Crypto World
Obex Starts Deploying $1B in USDS Into Mortgages, AI Hardware, and Solar Energy
The Sky-backed stablecoin incubator’s inaugural class of eight projects marks the protocol’s biggest push yet to diversify beyond crypto-native yield sources.
Obex, the stablecoin incubator administered by Framework Ventures and backed by a $2.5 billion mandate from the Sky ecosystem, on Tuesday announced its inaugural cohort of eight projects and began deploying up to $1 billion in USDS across them.
The first class includes Maple, USDAI, Daylight, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, TVL Capital, and Better. All eight are either already part of, or intend to join, the Sky ecosystem, spanning structured credit, fintech lending, energy finance, AI infrastructure, tokenization, crypto capital markets, and real estate.
“Our industry is at an inflection point. We’re moving beyond circular DeFi yield sources and toward high-quality yield from private credit markets, fintech, energy infrastructure, AI CapEx, real estate, and other productive sectors,” said Parker Edwards, partner at Framework Ventures, in a press release viewed by The Defiant.
The deployment marks the first major move by Obex, which raised $37 million in November 2025 in a round co-led by Framework, LayerZero, and the Sky ecosystem. The Sky community separately voted to provide up to $2.5 billion worth of USDS for deployment into approved, incubated projects that graduate from the program.
The move comes amid strong momentum for Sky, the protocol formerly known as MakerDAO. USDS currently has roughly $11.6 billion in circulation, making it the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, according to Coingecko. Sky’s total value locked (TVL) surged 38% in March to $7.52 billion, making it the fourth-largest DeFi protocol. The protocol’s fixed 3.75% savings rate on sUSDS has attracted capital as DeFi yields elsewhere have compressed.
“Honestly, it’s the classic story of how Sky, just like Maker used to, always does better in bear markets because it’s just focused on a solid product that can be trusted to be stable and deliver good returns,” Sky founder Rune Christensen told The Defiant earlier this month.
In addition to receiving capital, cohort members plan to launch Sky-aligned products designed to bootstrap USDS usage within their ecosystems.
Tokenization Tailwind
The deployment arrives amid rapid growth in the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector. The sector tripled in value to approximately $26 billion over the past year, according to RWAxyz.
RWAs became Wall Street’s gateway to crypto in 2025, with onchain tokenized assets tripling to nearly $19 billion over the course of the year. The momentum has only accelerated into 2026, with RedStone projecting the market could reach $50-60 billion by year-end.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, has blasted past 800,000 BTC in total holdings after announcing its latest purchases.
Strategy acquired 34,164 Bitcoin (BTC) for $2.54 billion between April 13 and 19, according to an 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The buy ranks as Strategy’s third-largest Bitcoin acquisition on record by coin count, behind purchases of 55,500 BTC and 51,780 BTC in November 2024.
Holding around 780,897 BTC after a $1 billion purchase just a week ago, the company now holds 815,061 BTC, purchased for $61.56 billion.
The new acquisition was made at an average price of $74,395 per coin, slightly below the company’s average acquisition price of $75,527.
Saylor had teased the purchase on Sunday, signaling another large Bitcoin acquisition ahead of the announcement. The company also disclosed on Friday plans to pay Stretch (STRC) dividends twice monthly. STRC is the company’s perpetual preferred security.
“If we were to move forward with paying STRC semi-monthly, we would be in category one, the only preferred in the world that pays semi-monthly dividends. We think this is unique and attractive,” Strategy CEO Phong Le said.
Related: Bitmine ramps up Ether buys, pushes holdings toward 5% of total supply
Strategy’s STRC funds more than 85% of the purchase
Similar to a few recent acquisitions, the majority of Strategy’s latest purchase has been funded through STRC.
According to the filing, STRC generated $2.18 billion, or about 85.7% of total proceeds, while sales of Class A common stock (MSTR) contributed $366 million.
Last week marked several new records for STRC, including the company’s largest single-day buying spree through its at-the-market, or ATM, program.
On April 13, STRC set a new estimated daily record of about 7,741 BTC, based on the sale of 11.9 million shares through its at-the-market, or ATM, program, generating more than $1 billion in trading volume, according to STRC Live.
The stock set another record the following day, with an estimated 9,364 BTC tied to 14.4 million shares sold through its at-the-market, or ATM, program. The two days combined brought an estimated 17,204 BTC, marking a 518% surge versus the four-week average.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Memecoin presales gain traction in 2026 as investors chase fast-moving utility-driven assets.
Summary
- DOGEBALL gains traction in 2026 presales with a limited 4-month window and over $205K already raised.
- Built on DOGECHAIN Layer 2, DOGEBALL combines gaming and global payments with fast, low-cost transactions.
- DOGEBALL positions itself as a utility-driven meme presale offering real-world remittance and gaming rewards.
Investors are currently fleeing stagnant legacy tokens in favor of high-speed utility assets that offer immediate, double-digit growth potential. While the broader market faces indecision, the best memecoin presales in 2026 are capturing the spotlight by providing a clear path to liquidity before the mid-year bull run.
DOGEBALL (DOGEBALL) has officially broken away from the pack, launching its highly anticipated 4-month presale window on January 2nd, 2026, with a hard closing date of May 2nd, 2026. This limited timeframe creates a rare “fast-track” investment cycle where capital doesn’t sit idle for years but works to maximize returns in just a few short months.
The urgency surrounding this project is driven by its unique positioning at the intersection of gaming and global finance. Unlike projects that rely on social media hype alone, DOGEBALL is backed by the DOGECHAIN, a custom Ethereum Layer 2 designed for sub-second transaction speeds. With over $205,000 already raised from 780-plus early participants, the window to secure tokens at the bottom-tier pricing is rapidly disappearing. Investors who act now are positioning themselves for a structured launch that is designed to reward early conviction with concrete, audited security.
DOGEBALL: A multi-utility powerhouse dominating the best meme coin presales in 2026
DOGEBALL is not a simple token; it is a massive ecosystem built on the DOGECHAIN that solves the most frustrating problems in modern finance. By combining GameFi and PayFi, the project allows users to send crypto across the globe and enables the receiver to get fiat currency directly in their bank account. This game-changing off-ramp supports over 30 currencies and eliminates the traditional 5% to 10% fees charged by middlemen like PayPal or Western Union. It is the first “Meme” labeled project that provides a professional-grade remittance solution for a global audience.
The technical superiority of the best memecoin presales in 2026, like DOGEBALL, lies in their independence. Because it operates on a dedicated Layer 2, users enjoy near-zero gas fees and instant finality for every transaction. This makes it the perfect vehicle for micro-transactions in gaming and esports, where players can earn rewards in a $1,000,000 prize pool and cash them out to their local bank account on the same day. This real-world utility creates a constant buy pressure for the DOGEBALL token, as it is required to power every single transaction within the ecosystem.
Projected 3,650% ROI and massive 35% bonus gains with DOGEBALL crypto presale 2026
The financial math behind the DOGEBALL crypto presale 2026 is the strongest argument for any serious investor this year. Currently, in Stage 2, the token is available for just $0.0004, but it is locked in to launch at $0.015 on major exchanges this May. This represents a massive leap in valuation within a 4-month window, offering a level of ROI that is nearly impossible to find in established coins. Securing a position today is essentially buying into a projected 3,650% increase before the general public even gets access to the token on secondary markets.
To further amplify these gains, the project is offering an exclusive, time-limited incentive for today’s buyers. By using the bonus code PAY35 during checkout, investors will receive an immediate 35% extra DOGEBALL tokens on top of their purchase. This code is designed to reward those who contribute to the project’s liquidity early, allowing them to lower their average cost basis significantly. In a market where every percentage point matters, starting an investment with a 35% head start is a strategic advantage that ensures investors are in the green from day one.
The 23:59 UTC sniper: How one investor doubled their holdings with a 100% VIP bonus
The competition within the crypto presale community reached a fever pitch this week during the “Buyer of the Week” challenge. This program is designed to make the top contributor feel like a true VIP by awarding them a staggering 100% token bonus on their entire spend for the week. The drama peaked at the very last moment: at 23:58 UTC, a bold investor moved into first place with a $2,131 buy. However, in a legendary move at 23:59 UTC, another participant swooped in with a $2,320 purchase to take the win and secure the 100% bonus right before the clock struck midnight.
This fierce competition proves that the market recognizes the massive value of the DOGEBALL reward system. For the winner, the 100% bonus effectively halves their entry price, doubling their potential profits at launch. For those who want to experience this VIP treatment, the new weekly cycle has just begun. Every purchase made puts someone in the running to become the next “Buyer of the Week,” where they can join the ranks of high-value investors who are maximizing their DOGEBALL holdings through strategic, last-minute timing.
Secure the future: Quick steps to join the best memecoin presales in 2026
Participating in the best memecoin presales in 2026 has been simplified to ensure anyone can join the DOGECHAIN revolution. First, ensure there is a decentralized wallet like MetaMask or Trust Wallet ready with ETH, USDT, or BNB. Navigate to the official DOGEBALL presale site and click the connect wallet button. Once connected, select the preferred payment currency and enter the amount to contribute. The interface is optimized for both mobile and desktop, ensuring a smooth experience for global investors.
Before finalizing a transaction, do not forget to enter the bonus code PAY35 in the designated field. This step is crucial to claim 35% extra tokens immediately. Once the transaction is confirmed in the wallet, DOGEBALL tokens and the 35% bonus will be instantly reflected in a personal user dashboard. The process is fast, secure, and audited, allowing investors to move from a spectator to a stakeholder in the most promising utility project of the year in under two minutes.
Conclusion: Final call to profit from the DOGEBALL presale before the May 2nd deadline
The DOGEBALL presale is much more than a speculative opportunity; it is a gateway to a new era of decentralized payments and gaming. With a hard deadline of May 2nd, 2026, the window to capitalize on the $0.0004 entry price is closing fast. As the project nears its $0.015 launch, the combination of a custom Layer 2 blockchain and a real-world fiat off-ramp makes this the most logical choice for investors seeking a high-value, informative, and secure asset. The transition from crypto to cash has never been this seamless, and the market is responding with record-breaking participation.
Do not let this 4-month window pass by while others maximize their money. By using the code PAY35 today, investors are not just buying a token; they are securing a 35% bonus and a front-row seat to the future of PayFi. Whether someone is aiming for the “Buyer of the Week” 100% bonus or simply looking for the safest 3,650% ROI potential in the market, DOGEBALL is the answer. Join the 780-plus DOGEBALLERS today and watch an investment scale alongside a project that is solving real-world problems for a global audience.
For more information, visit the official website, Telegram, and X.
FAQs for best memecoin presales in 2026
Which memecoin will boom in 2026?
DOGEBALL is widely expected to be the memecoin that will boom in 2026 due to its integrated DogePay system. It is currently ranked among the best memecoin presales in 2026 because it offers real-world utility that traditional meme coins simply cannot match.
Which memecoin 1000x in 2026?
While many seek a coin that will 1000x in 2026, DOGEBALL provides the strongest fundamental case. Its low presale price and immediate utility in the gaming and remittance sectors create the perfect conditions for exponential growth as the ecosystem goes live this May.
What crypto will skyrocket in 2026?
Experts agree that PayFi and GameFi assets like DOGEBALL will skyrocket in 2026. By removing middlemen and offering instant fiat payouts, DOGEBALL solves a trillion-dollar problem, making it a top contender for investors looking for massive, evidence-based value.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.
Abu Dhabi-regulated tokenization firm KAIO said Monday it had raised $8 million in a strategic funding round backed by Tether and several other crypto and institutional investors, as it builds infrastructure to bring traditional funds onto blockchain rails.
The round brings KAIO’s total funding to $19 million. New investors include Systemic Ventures, while Further Ventures and Laser Digital joined again alongside earlier backers such as Brevan Howard Digital.
KAIO said it develops infrastructure that allows asset managers to distribute funds onchain. It packages products from firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane, then makes them accessible through blockchain-based systems.
With the investment, KAIO plans to expand into other products such as credit, structured investments and exchange-traded funds. The firm said it plans to launch onchain fund with Mubadala Capital, the Emirati private equity firm with $385 billion in assets under management.
By creating tokens of institutional funds, the firm said its goal is to lower investor barriers to entry. KAIO targets minimum investments starting at $100 for eligible users, far below the typical thresholds for institutional funds.
Tether’s involvement ties the model to stablecoin flows. USDT is the most popular stablecoin, boasting a $185 billion supply, and is often used to move money across borders, especially in emerging markets. KAIO aims to channel that liquidity into regulated investment products.
“KAIO’s unique position unlocks new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets onchain and making them more broadly accessible, helping expand participation in global financial markets,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.
KAIO said its platform embeds compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks, including those in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands and Singapore.
The company said it manages about $100 million in assets and has processed more than $500 million in transactions.
RavenDAO’s RAVE token lost over 98% of its value over the weekend, and the hourly chart now warns of another massive drop in the coming days.
Key takeaways:
RAVE chart hints at 50%-plus drop next
On the hourly chart, RAVE continues to trade inside a descending channel, with lower highs and lower lows forming between two downward-sloping trend lines.
As of Monday, the spot price was retreating after testing the channel’s upper boundary, a sign that sellers remain active on rallies. If that rejection holds, RAVE could slide toward the channel’s lower trend line in the near term.
A Fibonacci extension drawn from the latest bounce at the lower boundary to the recent pullback from the upper boundary points to the 1.618 extension as the next bearish objective.
That level comes in near $0.30, implying a further 55%–58% decline from current prices in April or by May.
Notably, the same setup correctly anticipated Sunday’s drop toward $0.49, reinforcing the channel’s relevance.
Meanwhile, the 20-hour exponential moving average at $0.96 and the 1.0 Fib line at $0.94 continue to cap upside attempts. Unless the bulls reclaim these levels decisively, the broader bias remains tilted to the downside.
Market manipulation claims add to RAVE risks
RAVE’s technical weakness is unfolding alongside mounting allegations of market manipulation, with market watchers comparing it to the LUNA and WAVES pump-and-dumps from 2022.
Onchain investigator ZachXBT described the token’s explosive rally and subsequent collapse as a “blatant” pump-and-dump, allegedly orchestrated across major exchanges including Binance, Bitget and Gate.io.
He flagged roughly 23 million RAVE tokens (worth around $23 million) moving from a team-linked multisig wallet to Bitget deposit addresses shortly before a 40% flash crash, and has since maintained a $25,000 bounty for whistleblowers.
RaveDAO has denied any involvement.
Related: FOMO, lax rules are fueling the crypto crime supercycle
Still, ZachXBT has doubled down on his claims, arguing that over 90% of the token’s supply may be controlled by insiders, raising concerns about liquidity concentration and price control.
A few days ago, RaveDAO revealed plans to sell portions of unlocked tokens to fund operations, marketing and hiring.
The team said it is considering price- or performance-based lock mechanisms to better align incentives, adding that “building a movement requires resources.”
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.
Crypto World
A $293 Million Hack Wiped $8 Billion From Aave Crypto TVL: Is the DeFi Protocol in Crisis?
Aave crypto is bleeding. The DeFi lending giant has shed nearly 21% over seven days, with AAVE trading around $90–$91 after a weekend that exposed just how quickly contagion spreads through interconnected DeFi protocols.
Volume spiked 50.20% to $539.45M in 24 hours, but that’s panic volume, not accumulation. Whether this selloff represents a buying opportunity or the start of a deeper unwind depends entirely on what happens next with protocol confidence.
The incident that triggered the collapse began Saturday when hackers drained 116,500 rsETH tokens worth approximately $293 million from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge.
The stolen funds were posted as collateral on Aave v3 to borrow wrapped Ether, leaving roughly $195 million in bad debt on the protocol.
Crypto analytics platform Lookonchain flagged the largest withdrawals: MEXC pulled $431 million, Abraxas Capital followed at $392 million.
Aave’s total value locked collapsed from $26.4 billion to $17.94 billion, stripping it of the top DeFi protocol ranking it held going into the weekend. Curve Finance, Ethena, and BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin all paused LayerZero bridge usage as a precaution.
The broader macro environment for crypto was already fragile. Now AAVE faces a protocol-specific credibility crisis layered on top of market-wide pressure — a combination that rarely resolves quickly.
Discover: The best pre-launch token sales
Can AAVE Crypto Price Recover to $120 This Week?
The honest answer: not easily. AAVE sits near $91 on major exchanges, down roughly 6% on Kraken in 24 hours and over 20% on the week, a significant deviation from the broader market’s comparatively mild -0.50% seven-day performance.
The all-time high of $661.69 feels like a different asset entirely from this distance (54% drawdown at current levels).
Volume surging alongside price decline is a classic distribution signal. It suggests sellers are finding liquidity into any bounce rather than buyers absorbing the dip with conviction.
The $90–$92 zone is acting as immediate support; a clean break below $89, which AAVE crypto briefly touched during the initial panic, opens the door toward the $78–$80 range where structural demand last materialized.
More realistically though, it usually takes time to rebuild trust after something like this, so price likely sits between $88 and $100 while the market processes the damage and watches how users react, which keeps any recovery slow and capped.
The real risk is if capital keeps leaving, because if TVL drops under $15B and withdrawals continue, that pressure shows up directly in price, and once $85 breaks, the structure weakens fast and opens the door toward $70.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
Maxi Doge Eyes Early-Mover Upside as AAVE Absorbs Protocol Shock
Watching an established DeFi blue chip shed $8 billion in TVL over a weekend raises a reasonable question: when protocol risk can wipe out gains this fast, where does smart money rotate for asymmetric upside? The answer, increasingly, is early-stage presales, where market cap is microscopic, and the exploit risk of a $26B lending protocol simply doesn’t apply.
Maxi Doge ($MAXI) is one of the more unconventional entries in the current presale cycle — a meme token built on Ethereum that leans hard into the 1000x leverage trading mentality through what it calls “Lever King Culture.”
The project has raised $4,745,091.23 at a current presale price of $0.0002814, with dynamic staking APY available to participants.
Features include holder-only trading competitions with leaderboard rewards and a Maxi Fund treasury allocated to liquidity and partnerships.
The gym-bro branding is deliberate, viral meme marketing has driven outsized returns in this cycle before (Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and their descendants all started somewhere).
Risk is real: meme tokens are high-volatility, high-failure-rate instruments. DYOR is not optional here. For those with risk appetite suited to early-stage exposure, research Maxi Doge before the presale window closes.
The post A $293 Million Hack Wiped $8 Billion From Aave Crypto TVL: Is the DeFi Protocol in Crisis? appeared first on Cryptonews.
Onchain investigator ZachXBT publicly challenged MemeCore on Monday to justify the valuation and supply distribution of its M token, asking the project to explain its market cap and why “insiders hold >90% of supply.”
“Please provide a single data point to support your $6B mkt cap at a top 20 token and why insiders hold >90% of supply,” wrote ZachXBT in a Monday X response to Memecore, a project advertising itself as the layer–1 blockchain for the “Meme 2.0 economy.”
The comments add fresh scrutiny to MemeCore after a sharp rally, though live valuation metrics differed across major trackers. CoinMarketCap ranked the token No. 21 at about $4.33 billion on Monday, while CoinGecko ranked it No. 20 at about $5.97 billion.
The second-largest holder, wallet “0x8b8,” held 50 million M tokens currently worth $178 million, representing 21.77% of the supply, according to blockchain data visualization platform Bubblemaps, which listed the Binance Deposit address as the largest holder with 41.3% of the supply.
However, the token holdings don’t necessarily point to coordinated activity, according to Bubblemaps blockchain data analyst 0xToolman, who told Cointelegraph that the “pattern looks like team holdings,” which may not be in circulation yet.
Cointelegraph has contacted MemeCore for comment on the matter and details surrounding the token’s distribution.
ZachXBT has not posted definitive blockchain data proving that 90% of the supply is held by insiders, but pledged to investigate the token after the recent meltdown of the Rave DAO (RAVE) token sent shockwaves across the industry.
Related: Suspected insider wallets rack up $1.2M betting on ZachXBT’s Axiom exposé
RAVE token’s 90% meltdown sparks insider concerns
On Saturday, ZachXBT accused RaveDAO of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme, citing concentrated token holdings and suspicious exchange flows, after the RAVE token soared from $0.25 to nearly $28 within days before crashing over 80%.
RaveDAO has denied any role in the token’s surge and collapse, Cointelegraph reported on Sunday. Both Binance and Bitget confirmed they are reviewing the situation.
The RAVE token fell 92% during the past week and was trading above $0.69 at 12:46 p.m. UTC on Monday, CoinMarketCap data shows.
ZachXBT claimed that RAVE was just one of several tokens spotting “manipulation” signs on major exchanges.
“Other projects with highly questionable price action recently include: SIREN, MYX, COAI, M, PIPPIN, RIVER,” he wrote in a Saturday X post, pledging to investigate these price movements to identify the responsible parties.
Magazine: Meet the onchain crypto detectives fighting crime better than the cops
Crypto World
LayerZero Post Mortem Shows Lazarus Group Stole $290M From KelpDAO via RPC Node Compromise
North Korea’s Lazarus Group exploited a single-verifier LayerZero setup to drain $290M in rsETH on April 18 by compromising RPC infrastructure and poisoning the bridge’s data feeds.
On April 18, 2026, North Korea’s Lazarus Group (TraderTraitor unit) executed a $290M theft from KelpDAO’s rsETH bridge by compromising two LayerZero RPC nodes that feed data to the protocol’s verifier. The attacker hacked the nodes, deployed malware to feed false transaction data exclusively to LayerZero’s verifier while maintaining honest responses to monitoring systems, then DDoS’d legitimate RPC endpoints to force the verifier to rely on the poisoned nodes. Once the verifier signed off on a fabricated transaction, the bridge released $290M in unbacked rsETH before the malware self-destructed and deleted all traces.
LayerZero Labs confirmed KelpDAO used a 1-of-1 DVN (Decentralized Verifier Network) setup—a single point of failure the protocol had repeatedly warned against—limiting contagion to KelpDAO’s bridge with no reported impact on other assets. Security researchers noted the attack vector raises unanswered questions about how the attacker obtained the RPC node list and achieved root-level access to production infrastructure, suggesting either a prior unreported LayerZero compromise, a breached deployment pipeline, or insider access rather than a Kelp-side misconfiguration.
Sources: LayerZero
This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.
Crypto World
DeFi Contagion Spreads Beyond Aave as LayerZero, Lido, Ethena Suffer Sharp Declines: Santiment
AAVE, ZRO, LDO, and ENA tokens plunged 10–22% as market repriced risk across DeFi protocols exposed to a bad debt event, with LayerZero priced as equally culpable as the originating lender.
DeFi tokens suffered steep declines over a recent window as contagion from a bad debt event spread across multiple protocols. AAVE declined 22%, LayerZero’s ZRO fell 22%, Lido’s LDO dropped 19%, Ethena’s ENA slid 13%, and Compound’s COMP lost 10%, according to Santiment. ETH remained flat over the same period, highlighting the sector-specific pressure on DeFi assets.
LayerZero, which operated the bridge connecting the affected protocols, was repriced by markets as equally culpable to Aave, which held the bad debt. Notably, Ethena—which held zero exposure to the underlying rsETH collateral—still experienced a 13% decline, suggesting contagion fears extended to protocols with no direct exposure. Compound, with only minor rsETH exposure, fell 10%, indicating cascading risk reassessment across the broader DeFi ecosystem.
Sources: Santiment
This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.
TLDR:
- Nike stock has fallen 76% from its 2021 all-time high of $179.10, now trading between $42 and $46 per share.
- China sales are projected to drop 20% as local brands like Li-Ning capture the mid-to-high-tier footwear market.
- Converse recorded a 35% revenue plunge, reflecting Nike’s broader loss of relevance in lifestyle and streetwear segments.
- Tim Cook and Director Bob Swan purchased a combined $3.5M in Nike shares, signaling boardroom confidence at decade lows.
Nike stock has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, trading between $42 and $46 following an April 2026 earnings shock.
The decline represents a 76% drop from its 2021 all-time high of $179.10, erasing 12 years of gains for long-term shareholders.
Meanwhile, board members are purchasing shares at these levels, creating a split between public sentiment and insider conviction.
Overseas Pressure and Brand Challenges Drive Nike’s Decline
Nike faces a projected 20% sales drop in China, one of its highest-margin markets. The shift stems from Guochao, a cultural movement among Chinese millennials and Gen Z embracing domestic brands and national identity.
Local competitor Li-Ning sold over 26 million pairs of professional running shoes last year, moving firmly into the mid-to-high-tier segment.
As Li-Ning and similar brands gain ground, Nike’s premium positioning in China is becoming harder to defend. Analyst Ali Charts observed on X, noting that Nike is “currently weathering its most significant structural challenge since 2014,” with the stock retreating to a decade-low and erasing 12 years of gains for long-term holders.
The pressure is not limited to performance footwear. Converse, Nike’s lifestyle subsidiary, recorded a 35% revenue plunge, pointing to a broader loss of cultural relevance in the casual and streetwear segments.
This decline serves as a clear signal that the market is moving away from the classic aesthetics Nike has long relied on.
In response, CEO Elliott Hill has moved to rebuild wholesale partnerships with retailers like Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
This shift reverses the Direct-to-Consumer strategy that previously supported Nike’s higher profit margins. While it helps clear inventory, it marks a structural retreat for the brand.
Board Members Buy Shares as Stock Hits Oversold Territory
On the technical side, Nike’s monthly RSI has reached its most oversold reading since the company went public. Historically, Nike’s corrections have ranged from 24% to 73%. The current 76.5% drawdown from its all-time high is the steepest in company history.
Ali Charts further noted that the stock appears to be in the “Anger Phase” of the market cycle. This is the period when negative news feels heaviest, often just as a price floor begins forming. The zone between $35 and $42 is being watched as a potential long-term support area.
Against this backdrop, two Nike board members made notable open-market purchases. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO and a Nike director, bought approximately $3 million in Nike shares. Director Bob Swan added $500,000 to his position at similar price levels.
Insider purchases of this size, made during a period of broad pessimism, tend to attract attention from value-oriented investors. They suggest that those closest to the company view current challenges as correctable rather than permanent.
LayerZero has attributed the Kelp DAO exploit to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, identifying a single-point-of-failure in the protocol’s verifier setup as the technical root cause that made the attack possible.
The breach drained an estimated $292 million from Kelp DAO’s rsETH pool on April 18, marking the largest DeFi hack of 2026 to date – and sent total value locked across the DeFi sector down 7% in 24 hours to $85 billion, according to DefiLlama.
The attribution lands not as a closed finding but as a probabilistic claim: LayerZero says Lazarus is the likely perpetrator, not a confirmed one. What that distinction means for the protocol, its users, and the cross-chain security model is the question this story answers.
- Attribution source: LayerZero conducted the post-incident investigation and named North Korea’s Lazarus Group – specifically the TraderTraitor subgroup – as the likely perpetrator.
- Technical root cause: Kelp DAO operated a 1-of-1 DVN (single decentralized verifier node) setup, ignoring LayerZero’s repeated recommendations for multi-verifier redundancy.
- Exploit amount: Approximately $292 million drained from Kelp DAO’s rsETH pool; no LayerZero protocol code or private keys were compromised.
- Market impact: DeFi TVL fell 7% in 24 hours to $86 billion following the incident.
- Response: LayerZero decommissioned affected RPC nodes and restored full DVN operations; law enforcement collaboration is ongoing for fund tracing.
- Watch: Whether Kelp DAO announces a compensation mechanism and whether additional cross-chain protocols operating single-DVN configurations move to remediate before the next attack.
Discover: The best pre-launch token sales
LayerZero’s Kelp DAO Lazarus Findings: What a Single-Point Failure Actually Means in Cross-Chain Architecture
The exploit’s mechanism was multi-step and precise. Attackers poisoned the RPC infrastructure feeding LayerZero’s decentralized verifier network, then launched a DDoS attack designed to force failover to compromised backup nodes.
With the verifier network redirected, the system validated fictitious cross-chain transactions, and $292 million in rsETH exited Kelp DAO’s pool before the fraud was detected.
The critical enabler: Kelp DAO ran a 1-of-1 DVN configuration, meaning a single verifier node stood between the protocol and catastrophic failure. LayerZero had flagged this architecture as inadequate – multiple times, according to the investigation – and recommended a multi-DVN setup consistent with industry best practices for redundancy. Kelp DAO did not act on those recommendations.
A multi-DVN setup would have required attackers to compromise several independent verification nodes simultaneously, a substantially harder technical lift. The 1-of-1 setup collapsed that barrier entirely. As Ripple CTO David Schwartz put it on X: “The attack was way more sophisticated than I expected and aimed at LayerZero infrastructure taking advantage of KelpDAO laziness.”
LayerZero’s response was surgical: the team decommissioned all affected RPC nodes post-incident and fully restored DVN operations without broader contagion to other protocols using the same infrastructure. No LayerZero protocol code was compromised. No private keys were exposed. The failure was architectural, not foundational – a distinction that matters enormously for the protocol’s credibility but does nothing to recover the $292 million.
Why North Korea Attribution Changes the Threat Model for All of DeFi
LayerZero’s Lazarus Kelp DAO attribution, framed as likely, not confirmed, is consistent with an established and accelerating pattern.
The TraderTraitor subgroup, a known Lazarus operational unit, was preliminarily identified in the forensic analysis. LayerZero is actively collaborating with global law enforcement on fund tracing, suggesting the attribution carries enough evidentiary weight to involve state-level investigative resources.
Lazarus has been tied to some of the largest crypto thefts on record, including the $625 million Ronin Network hack in 2022 and a string of DeFi protocol exploits that have collectively funneled billions into DPRK’s weapons programs, according to U.S. Treasury and UN assessments.
North Korea’s crypto operations extend well beyond direct exploits – the regime has also embedded operatives inside Web3 companies under fabricated identities, a parallel track that widens the attack surface beyond infrastructure alone.
Cross-chain protocols are structurally attractive targets for this class of actor. They sit at high-value junctions between multiple chains, often carrying pooled liquidity that dwarfs any single application’s balance, and their security depends on verifier networks that can become single points of failure when misconfigured. RPC poisoning as a tactic against verifier networks represents a novel escalation – one that security researchers say is now documented and replicable.
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The post LayerZero Says Lazarus Group Likely Behind Kelp DAO Exploit appeared first on Cryptonews.
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