Key Highlights

• Bitcoin maintained its position above the $74,000 threshold as investor confidence returned to global markets
• Major Asian stock indices, notably China’s CSI 300, completely recovered from earlier geopolitical setbacks
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States recorded $471 million in net inflows during a single trading session, bringing total cumulative flows above $56 billion
• The S&P 500 advanced 1.2% while the Nasdaq jumped 2%, marking the Nasdaq’s tenth consecutive daily gain
• Crude oil prices held beneath the $100 per barrel mark amid speculation of potential diplomatic engagement between Washington and Tehran, reducing inflation concerns

Bitcoin successfully maintained its position above the $74,000 mark on Wednesday as market participants demonstrated renewed appetite for riskier asset classes. Financial markets worldwide extended their rally, recovering ground lost during the U.S.-Iran tensions that emerged in late February.

Equity markets across Asia spearheaded the recovery movement. China’s CSI 300 index emerged as the most recent benchmark to completely reverse its conflict-driven losses, following similar recoveries in Taiwanese and Singaporean markets that had already returned to levels seen before the crisis began.

U.S. equity markets demonstrated strong momentum. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% while the Nasdaq Composite soared 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average contributed with a 317-point increase. The S&P 500 has now delivered positive returns in nine out of the last ten trading sessions and remains just shy of the record peak it established in late January.

The Nasdaq pushed its consecutive winning session streak to an impressive ten days. Year-to-date losses attributed to the Iran conflict have been virtually eliminated.

Diplomatic developments contributed significantly to market sentiment. President Trump revealed earlier in the week that communication channels between Washington and Tehran have been established. Oil prices retreated following this announcement and continue trading below the $100 per barrel threshold, alleviating the inflationary pressures that had challenged markets throughout March.

Institutional Bitcoin ETF Activity Reflects Strong Conviction

Within cryptocurrency markets, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs registered $471 million in net positive flows on April 6, representing their most robust single-session performance since February. Total cumulative inflows have now surpassed the $56 billion milestone since these investment vehicles debuted in January 2024.

Bitcoin’s current trading price hovers near the calculated average cost basis for ETF investors. Market analysts suggest this level may serve as support, given that investors who maintained positions during the decline below $60,000 have limited incentive to exit at or near their entry point.

“Institutions pouring in $471 million in a single day and pushing past $56 billion cumulative means Bitcoin is getting a whole new class of long-term holders,” said Vikrant Sharma, founder of CakeWallet.

Alternative Cryptocurrencies Show Divergent Performance

Ether posted a 4% weekly advance, reaching approximately $2,325, surpassing Bitcoin’s 3.9% weekly increase. However, performance across alternative cryptocurrencies remained inconsistent. Solana declined 1.5% to $83, Cardano retreated 1%, and Dogecoin decreased 1.3% to settle at $0.093.

Tron distinguished itself with a 3% weekly appreciation.

Market observers are also incorporating expectations for potential Federal Reserve interest rate reductions later in the year. Such monetary policy adjustments typically inject liquidity into risk-oriented assets, a dynamic that has historically benefited both equities and digital currencies.

Corporate earnings announcements are commanding attention as well. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are both scheduled to release quarterly results before Wednesday’s market opening.

U.S. stock index futures maintained relatively stable positioning Tuesday evening following the robust trading session, with contracts linked to the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones all trading near unchanged levels.

Key Takeaways

• Venture capitalist Tim Draper has renewed his $250,000 Bitcoin price forecast, setting an 18-month timeline for the target
• In 2014, Draper purchased 30,000 BTC for $632 per coin at a U.S. Marshals auction following the Mt. Gox incident
• Bitcoin reached a peak of $126,080 in October 2025 and currently trades near $74,271
• Draper points to increased adoption and deteriorating fiat currencies as primary drivers for his optimistic projection
• His 2014 forecast of $10,000 BTC proved correct, while more recent predictions have not met their timelines

Tim Draper’s journey with Bitcoin stretches back to its earliest days. The prominent venture capitalist first acquired Bitcoin when it traded at just $4, attempting to mine cryptocurrency with a business partner using specialized chips from Butterfly Labs. According to Draper, those chips never materialized as promised — he alleges the company used them for their own mining operations instead.

When the equipment eventually showed up, Bitcoin’s price had already surged past $30. Draper proceeded to build a substantial position, which he ultimately lost completely in the infamous Mt. Gox exchange failure.

Undeterred, Draper made a bold move in 2014, investing $19 million at a U.S. Marshals Service auction to acquire 30,000 BTC confiscated from the Silk Road operation, at a price of $632 each.

Immediately following that acquisition, he made a public forecast that Bitcoin would climb to $10,000 within three years. The prediction drew widespread skepticism. History proved him correct.

An Evolving Timeline for a Bold Forecast

On April 14, Draper shared an extensive post on X detailing his Bitcoin experience and future price expectations. He acknowledged that his latest targets “have not been so prescient” — his previous forecast called for BTC to touch $250,000 by the close of 2025.

That timeframe has been adjusted. Draper now projects Bitcoin will achieve $250,000 within the next 18 months.

He identifies two primary catalysts behind this projection: expanding acceptance of Bitcoin for everyday transactions and the ongoing devaluation of conventional fiat currencies through inflationary pressures.

Draper has consistently advocated for Bitcoin’s potential to displace traditional money. He’s stated in the past that failing to hold Bitcoin is “irresponsible” and predicted that merchants will eventually accept only BTC for transactions.

Current Bitcoin Market Position

Bitcoin touched its record high of $126,080 on October 6, 2025. Since that peak, the cryptocurrency has declined approximately 40%, trading around $74,271 as of this writing.

Beyond Bitcoin itself, Draper maintains investments in prominent cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase and Robinhood Markets. He was also an early Tesla backer before that company considered accepting Bitcoin payments.

Additionally, Draper has introduced DraperTV on Pump.fun, a platform built on Solana, where he showcases content with fellow entrepreneurs.

Blockaid flags CoW Swap’s cow.fi frontend as malicious, urging users to revoke token approvals and avoid the dApp amid a broader wave of DeFi interface attacks.

Blockchain security firm Blockaid has warned that CoW Swap’s primary website COW.FI has been compromised in a suspected frontend attack, marking the latest high‑profile exploit attempt against a major DeFi trading interface.

In an alert shared on X, Blockaid said its system “has detected a front-end attack targeting Cowswap” and confirmed that the cow.fi domain has been flagged as malicious inside Blockaid‑integrated wallets, advising users “to refrain from signing transactions and avoid interactions with the dApp until the issue is resolved.”

Following the warning, CoW Swap community channels and independent security commentators urged traders who had connected wallets to CoW Swap to immediately revoke any outstanding token approvals and to stop interacting with the platform’s frontend until further notice, even though underlying smart contracts have not been reported as compromised.

Blockaid’s latest alert comes amid a surge in so‑called frontend hijacks, where attackers compromise a project’s website or DNS rather than its on‑chain contracts, silently swapping legitimate transaction prompts for malicious ones that drain user wallets.linkedin+1

In February, Blockaid reported a similar frontend attack on tokenization platform OpenEden, warning users to “refrain from signing transactions and avoid interactions with the dApp until the issue is resolved,” while separate incidents have recently hit lending protocol Curvance and asset manager Maple Finance.

As highlighted in CoW Swap’s own DeFi security guides, these attacks target “people, devices, and transaction behavior instead of only attacking code,” making basic hygiene like checking URLs, using browser bookmarks and monitoring token approvals critical for retail and professional users alike.

Security platforms such as Kerberus and Revoke‑style tools recommend users regularly audit and revoke token approvals after any suspected incident, noting that revocation “only removes future permission for that contract to move your tokens” and cannot recover funds already drained.

For DeFi traders, the CoW Swap incident underscores a lesson that keeps recurring in crypto.news coverage of exchange exploits, bridge hacks and protocol drains: even when audited smart contracts remain intact, a single compromised frontend can still turn a routine swap into a total wallet loss if users sign blind.

Tether today unveiled its self-custodial crypto wallet using the open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) developed by the firm. According to an announcement from the firm, tether.wallet supports USDT, USAT, Bitcoin and XAUT, what the firm says represent “the only assets that truly matter for most of the people.”

Tether says the initiative, which it’s dubbing “the People’s Wallet” aligns with its mission to promote financial inclusion globally, particularly in developing countries and regions with high inflation.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino was quoted in the announcement on the firm’s aim of preserving self-custody, without compromising on user experience:

“The objective is to remove the complexity that has prevented broader adoption while preserving the properties that make the digital assets technology valuable. Users should be able to send value as easily as sending a message, without relying on intermediaries and without giving up control of their assets.”

As an example, the firm’s announcement notes that the wallet lets users pay fees in the asset being transferred, instead of needing to acquire or hold separate tokens for gas. The wallet also supports easily readable addresses for sending and receiving that look more like an email address, instead of the typical alphanumeric string.

Tether says at launch, the wallet supports USDT and XAUT on Ethereum, Polygon, Plasma, and Arbitrum, and USAT on Ethereum. It also supports Bitcoin both natively and via the Lightning Network. The firm plans to add support for “several other blockchains” in the future.

Last month, Tether announced that it had engaged a Big Four firm to conduct its first ever “full independent financial statement audit.”

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Crypto wallet Zerion revealed that North Korean-affiliated hackers used AI in a long-term social engineering attack to steal about $100,000 from the company’s hot wallets last week. 

The Zerion team released a post-mortem on Wednesday, where it confirmed that no user funds, Zerion apps or infrastructure were affected and that it had proactively disabled the web app as a precaution. 

While the amount was relatively small in crypto hacking terms, it is another incident of a crypto worker being targeted for an “AI-enabled social engineering attack linked to a DPRK threat actor,” Zerion said.

It is the second attack of this nature this month, following the $280 million exploit of the Drift Protocol, which was the victim of a “structured intelligence operation” by DPRK-affiliated hackers. The human layer, not smart contract bugs, has now become North Korea’s primary point of entry into crypto firms.  

AI is changing the way cyber threats work

Zerion said the attacker gained access to some team members’ logged-in sessions and credentials, as well as private keys to company hot wallets. 

“This incident showed that AI is changing the way cyber threats work,” the company said. 

It confirmed that the attack was similar to those that had been investigated by the Security Alliance (SEAL) last week.

Related: Researchers discover malicious AI agent routers that can steal crypto

SEAL reported that it had tracked and blocked 164 domains linked to the DPRK group UNC1069 in a two-month window from February to April.

It stated that the group operates “multiweek, low-pressure social engineering campaigns” across Telegram, LinkedIn and Slack. Malicious actors impersonate known contacts or credible brands or leverage access to previously compromised company and individual accounts.

“UNC1069’s social engineering methodology is defined by patience, precision, and the deliberate weaponization of existing trust relationships.”

Google’s cybersecurity unit Mandiant detailed in February the group’s use of fake Zoom meetings and a “known use of AI tools by the threat actor for editing images or videos during the social engineering stage.”

DPRK’s social engineering is evolving

Earlier this month, MetaMask developer and security researcher Taylor Monahan said North Korean IT workers have been embedding themselves in crypto companies and decentralized finance projects for at least seven years.

“The evolution of the DPRK’s social engineering techniques, combined with the increasing availability of AI to refine and perfect these methods, means the threat extends well beyond exchanges,” blockchain security firm Elliptic said in a blog post earlier this year. 

“Individual developers, project contributors, and anyone with access to cryptoasset infrastructure is a potential target.”

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