Crypto World
The Real Product of DeFi Is Volatility
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is often marketed as a parallel financial system built on transparency, efficiency, and permissionless access. Yet beneath these narratives lies a more fundamental driver—volatility. While traditional finance seeks to minimize instability, DeFi, in contrast, is structurally dependent on it. Volatility is not a byproduct of the system; it is, in many ways, the system’s core product.
Volatility as the Engine of Opportunity
At the heart of DeFi protocols such as Uniswap, Aave, and Compound lies a simple premise: market inefficiencies create profit opportunities. These inefficiencies are amplified by price fluctuations.
Without volatility, several foundational DeFi mechanisms would lose their purpose:
- Arbitrage depends on price discrepancies across markets. Stable prices eliminate these gaps, leaving no room for profit extraction.
- Yield farming relies on shifting capital toward higher returns, often driven by rapidly changing incentives and token valuations.
- Liquidation cycles in lending protocols require price movements to trigger collateral thresholds.
In essence, volatility fuels the activity that sustains user engagement and capital flow within the ecosystem.
Liquidity Provision and the Cost of Stability
Liquidity providers (LPs) are often presented as passive participants earning fees. However, their returns are closely tied to market turbulence. In automated market makers (AMMs), price swings generate trading volume, which in turn produces fees.
Yet this comes with a trade-off: impermanent loss. In low-volatility environments, LPs may see reduced trading activity and lower fee generation, while still being exposed to potential downside risks. Ironically, the more stable the market becomes, the less attractive liquidity provision can be.
This dynamic reveals a critical tension: DeFi protocols require stability to build trust, but depend on volatility to remain profitable.
The Feedback Loop of Instability
DeFi does not merely react to volatility—it amplifies it. Mechanisms embedded within protocols often create feedback loops:
- Price drops trigger liquidations, which further push prices downward.
- Yield incentives attract capital rapidly, only for it to exit just as quickly when returns diminish.
- Leveraged positions magnify both gains and losses, increasing systemic sensitivity to price changes.
These cycles are not anomalies; they are intrinsic to how DeFi systems are designed. Platforms like MakerDAO and Curve Finance attempt to introduce stability through collateralization and specialized liquidity pools, yet even they cannot fully escape the gravitational pull of broader market volatility.
Stability as a Narrative, Not a Foundation
Stablecoins and low-volatility pools are often positioned as solutions to DeFi’s chaotic nature. However, even these instruments rely indirectly on volatility elsewhere in the system. For example, maintaining a stable peg frequently depends on arbitrage incentives—again requiring price discrepancies to function effectively.
Thus, stability in DeFi is less a foundational property and more a constructed layer, supported by mechanisms that ultimately trace back to volatility.
Conclusion
The promise of DeFi is frequently framed around democratizing finance and reducing reliance on centralized institutions. While these goals are significant, they can obscure a more pragmatic reality: DeFi thrives on movement, not equilibrium.
Volatility is the fuel that powers arbitrage, sustains yield, and drives liquidations. Without it, the mechanisms that define DeFi would stall. Rather than viewing volatility as a problem to be solved, it may be more accurate to recognize it as the primary product being generated and consumed within the ecosystem.
Understanding this dynamic is essential for participants. Success in DeFi is not about avoiding chaos—it is about navigating it effectively.
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Crypto World
Jupiter and Bitwise Launch Isolated USDe Market on Solana
TLDR
- Jupiter has partnered with Bitwise to launch an isolated USDe lending market on Solana.
- Bitwise will curate the dedicated USDe pool within Jupiter Lend for institutional participants.
- The USDe market will operate separately from Jupiter Lend’s main liquidity layer.
- The structure aims to manage risk and support institutional capital participation.
- Fluid protocol will provide collateral and lending infrastructure for the isolated pool.
Jupiter has partnered with Bitwise to launch an isolated USDe lending market on Solana. The firms announced the initiative on Wednesday and confirmed institutional access. The structure separates USDe liquidity and integrates Fluid for lending infrastructure support.
Bitwise and Jupiter Launch Isolated USDe Market on Solana
Jupiter confirmed that Bitwise will curate a dedicated USDe market on Jupiter Lend. The platform will isolate this market from its main liquidity layer to manage risk. The firms said the structure aims to support institutional capital with controlled exposure.
Bitwise will oversee market parameters while Jupiter provides the lending framework. The setup marks the first time an institutional asset manager curates a market on Jupiter Lend. The companies stated that this approach strengthens risk management and capital efficiency.
The isolated pool will function independently from other lending markets on the platform. As a result, liquidity risks from other assets will not affect the USDe market. The partners said this design aligns with institutional compliance standards.
Jonathan Man, Head of DeFi Strategies at Bitwise, addressed the launch. He said, “Jupiter and Fluid have built unique infrastructure for efficient lending markets.” He added that the design provides deep liquidity and risk-mitigating features.
USDe Gains Dedicated Lending Support Through Fluid Integration
The initiative integrates Fluid protocol to supply collateral and lending infrastructure. Fluid will support collateral management and borrowing operations within the isolated pool. The firms confirmed that this integration enhances operational efficiency.
The new market allows users to earn yield on USDe within Jupiter Lend. USDe functions as a synthetic asset that maintains a stable value target. Ethena Labs issues the token and oversees its underlying structure.
Guy Young, CEO of Ethena Labs, commented on the development. He said, “USDe is an institutional-grade savings product, built for scale.” He added that the combined infrastructure creates an efficient USDe market ready for DeFi adoption.
USDe launched in early 2024 and expanded rapidly across crypto markets. By mid-2025, it ranked as the third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. The asset attracted institutional participation during its early growth phase.
However, USDe later declined in market rankings after volatility pressures. A crypto market crash on Oct. 10 exposed decoupling risks linked to the asset. Market data showed fluctuations in USDe’s price stability during that period.
Jupiter and Bitwise did not disclose specific yield rates for the market. They confirmed that the structure will operate under defined collateral parameters. The companies stated that the market is now live on Solana.
Crypto World
Two AI Tokens Lead May Rally, But Risks Are Rising
AI tokens are leading the May crypto rally, with LAB and Billions Network (BILL) both posting sharp gains. LAB has attracted traders through its AI-powered trading terminal. BILL has gained attention as a decentralized identity token built for humans and AI agents.
Both charts still point higher if momentum holds. However, the risk profile is different.
What Is LAB Token?
LAB is the native token of a multi-chain trading terminal. The platform lets users trade spot, limit, and perpetual markets across Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain from one AI-powered interface.
Its token has a maximum supply of 1 billion, with about 230 million in circulation. LAB holders can stake tokens, vote on governance, and earn a share of transaction fees as platform volume grows.
Why is LAB Token Up 300%?
The main catalyst came on May 3, when LAB launched its mobile app. The move expanded the product beyond browser-extension users and helped trigger a sharp rally.
LAB surged 364% in one day and reached $3.18 before falling 65%. The move liquidated about $12.7 million in leveraged positions within hours.
Since then, LAB has pushed higher again. It recently traded around $6.10 after retesting the 0.786 Fibonacci level near $6.04. The token hit an all-time high of $7.50 on May 11.
LAB Price Outlook
If buyers stay in control, the first upside target sits near $9.35. A stronger breakout could push LAB toward $11.70. That would mean roughly 53% to 92% upside from current levels.
Still, traders should treat LAB as a high-risk momentum trade. On-chain investigator ZachXBT has accused LAB founder Boba Sadikov of coordinating market-making activity across centralized exchanges. The LAB team has not publicly addressed the claims.
Future token unlocks are another risk. Around 282 million LAB tokens remain locked, which could pressure price if supply enters the market during weaker conditions.
What is the Billions Network (BILL) Token?
BILL is the native ERC-20 token of Billions Network. The project focuses on decentralized identity and verification for both humans and AI agents.
Billions uses decentralized identifiers, verifiable credentials, and zero-knowledge proofs. In simple terms, it lets users prove facts about themselves without exposing all their personal data.
Its biggest angle is DeepTrust, a framework designed to verify AI agents through “Know Your Agent” (KYA). That could become more important if AI agents start making more on-chain transactions.
BILL Price Outlook
BILL launched on May 4 across several major exchanges, including KuCoin, Bybit, Binance Alpha, MEXC, OKX, and Kraken. More listings followed shortly after.
Futures listings added more fuel. Bybit listed a BILL perpetual contract on May 6. Binance followed up with BILL/USDT futures on May 7, helping the token jump nearly 50% in a single session.
BILL recently traded near $0.2035 after touching an intraday high of around $0.2268. The first upside target sits near $0.28. A stronger move could take it toward $0.35.
Support sits near $0.15, with a deeper level near $0.10. Momentum remains bullish, but the token is still new, so sharp pullbacks are likely.
For now, LAB offers the more explosive chart. BILL offers a stronger identity and an AI-agent narrative. Traders should watch momentum, exchange flows, and unlock risks before chasing either move.
The post Two AI Tokens Lead May Rally, But Risks Are Rising appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Microsoft Leading Copilot AI Predicts the Shocking Price of XRP by The End of 2026
We put a direct structured question to Microsoft Copilot AI about where the XRP price prediction ends up by the end of 2026, and the AI predicts does not dance around it.
The Leading AI frames the entire thesis around a single question: Does XRP become the backbone of institutional-grade payments, or does it stay trapped by legal and competitive noise?
If the answer is yes, Copilot sees a realistic range of $5 to $10.

The bull case is built on 3 pillars that are already partially in place. Regulatory clarity following Ripple’s legal wins has removed the overhang that kept institutional money cautious for years.
Banking partnerships are expanding, meaning XRP is no longer just a speculative asset but an active part of real payment infrastructure.
And the broader crypto market recovery provides the macro tailwind that lifts all boats, but historically lifts XRP harder when sentiment is running hot.
Copilot’s more aggressive scenario layers global settlement integration and strong liquidity corridor expansion on top of that foundation and arrives at $15, a number that requires everything to go right simultaneously, but is not built on fantasy, given where Ripple’s enterprise pipeline sits today.
The bear case is blunt. If regulatory setbacks re-emerge or adoption stalls, Copilot says XRP may not even break $1.50 to $2.00, leaving it underperforming peers across the board.
That is the uncomfortable version of this story: all the infrastructure buildout, all the legal wins, and the price still goes nowhere because the utility demand does not translate into actual buying pressure at scale. It has happened before with XRP, and Copilot is not pretending otherwise.
XRP Price Prediction: XPP Has Been Ranging for 3 Months Straight, Is This Why Copilot AI Predicts Aggressive Breakout?
XRP price is trading at $1.4677 on the 4-hour chart, and the chart since February tells a story of stubborn consolidation, finally showing signs of life.
After the February crash from $2.00 down to $1.15, price spent the next 3 months grinding in a wide range between $1.28 and $1.55 with no sustained directional conviction in either direction.
That changed in the last 2 weeks. The current push toward $1.50 is the strongest and most sustained upside move since the March bounce, and it is happening on progressively higher lows, which is a meaningful shift in structure.
Resistance is $1.50 to $1.55, the ceiling that has rejected every serious rally attempt since February. Price is pressing into that zone right now, and how it behaves here defines the next several weeks.
A clean 4-hour close above $1.55 and hold opens the door to $1.65 and then $1.80, where the next major supply sits from the January descent.
Support is $1.35 to $1.38, the mid-range base that has acted as a floor across April and early May. Lose that and $1.28 comes back into play, which is where Copilot’s bear case floor starts to make sense on the chart.
That tight convergence tells you momentum is building steadily without the kind of overextension that typically precedes a sharp reversal. No divergence, no warning signs. Just a quiet grind higher with RSI having room to reach 70 before anything gets stretched.
Copilot’s $5 to $10 call needs a lot of things to go right over 7 months. But the 4-hour chart is at least starting to set up the first step in that direction.
LiquidChain Is Catching the Attention of XRP Holders. Here Is Why
When the market leaders stall, smart money starts looking elsewhere.
BTC, ETH, and XRP are all grinding under resistance right now. The catalysts that unlock the next leg up, macro relief and sustained institutional inflows, have not arrived. Waiting on them means waiting on things you cannot control.
Early-stage infrastructure plays exist in a completely different universe. The upside is not priced in yet. A relatively small amount of capital can move the needle significantly. That asymmetry is the entire point.
LiquidChain is building something the current multi-chain environment desperately needs. Right now, liquidity across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana sits in isolated silos. Moving between them costs money, takes time, and breaks the user experience. LiquidChain collapses all 3 into a single execution layer. Developers deploy once. Users interact across all 3 ecosystems without ever feeling the seams.
The presale is at $0.01454 with just over $700,000 raised. That is not a late entry. That is ground floor.
The risks are real and worth naming. Post-launch adoption, liquidity depth, and execution are all unproven. No early-stage project comes without those question marks. The question is whether the potential justifies the uncertainty.
Established assets offer a smoother ride toward a ceiling that is already visible. LiquidChain offers a much earlier seat at a table that has not been set yet.
Explore the LiquidChain Presale
The post Microsoft Leading Copilot AI Predicts the Shocking Price of XRP by The End of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
Clarity Act amendments would remake key parts of crypto bill but have doubtful future
This week’s U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing to consider edits to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has dozens of amendments to weigh, though it’s likely that almost all of them won’t survive the process of Thursday’s event.
Lawmakers have pushed forward a range of proposed changes for the market structure bill as it approaches the hearing known as a “markup,” from amendments that would establish government-ethics rules to others setting safe harbors for developers to one that would cut out a must-have protection for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, plus a number of other smaller, technical adjustments.
The list is particularly dominated by a few lawmakers’ names, including Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed. Their items are expected to be a rhetorical wish list as other members of the committee — mostly Republicans — seek to advance the bill without significant overhauls.
Each amendment will be discussed during the hearing and will eventually receive a vote, unless they’re withdrawn. A simple majority will be needed to adopt or reject an amendment. Eventually, the Banking Committee will vote to advance the bill itself.
Here are some highlights, according to a list of the proposals circulated ahead of the hearing:
- Senator Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, wants to adopt some of the requests from bank lobbyists to further restrict stablecoin yields, according to one of his 18 amendments.
- He would also entirely scrap the section known as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which shields software developers that don’t control people’s money from being regulated as money transmitters.
- On the same topic, Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, a Nevada Democrat, wants to “protect software developers by creating a safe harbor from criminal liability for not registering as a money transmitter at the state or federal level.”
- Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, is pushing eight amendments, including one that would institute a major Democratic request: banning the president and other senior government officials from “owning, promoting or affiliating with” digital assets businesses.
- Senator Warren would more specifically “prohibit political corruption in banking applications and presidential bank ownership,” seeming to directly target the effort from World Liberty Financial — a company tied to President Donald Trump and his family — to obtain a U.S. banking charter.
- Warren, who is also seeking to cut out whole swaths of the current bill regarding the oversight of digital commodities, went farther afield with some amendments, trying to cap credit card interest rates and calling for bank supervisory records involving “Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.” (The bill itself does include some non-crypto provisions, including legislation targeted at housing championed by Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican.)
- Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who has been at the center of illicit-finance negotiations involving DeFi, is proposing “a control test to determine when persons operating non-decentralized finance trading protocols are subject to” Bank Secrecy Act anti-money laundering obligations.
- On the Republican side of the committee, Senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee is seeking a ban of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve. CBDC bans have already been pushed in various other bills by lawmakers, most recently in the House of Representatives’ bill to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Thursday’s session to consider advancing the Clarity Act is likely already well planned for what the Republican majority will allow into the legislation. The last time the Clarity Act was on final approach to a markup in this same committee, it made it to this stage in which some 75 amendments were offered, though that hearing was postponed shortly after.
Previous wrinkles in the negotiation have since been ironed out over four months of talks, clearing a path for committee approval this week. Once that happens, this bill can be merged with the parallel effort that already cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee.
However, some significant changes are still expected after this week, including the effort to resolve the Democrats’ demand for a conflict-of-interest provision on cutting ties between government officials and the crypto sector, most notably seen with the president and his family. A meeting earlier this week on that ethics provision reportedly remained contentious, and Democrats including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have said the Clarity Act will not get approved in the Senate without it.
Clarity’s advocates need to secure a number of Democratic supporters for the bill if it’s going to clear the 60-vote hurdle that’s standard in the Senate. Then the bill needs to get another approval from the U.S. House, which had already passed a similar bill last year.
In a Wednesday posting on social media site X, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the bill “strong” and said it “will benefit the American people by making the US financial system faster, cheaper and more accessible.”
“Mark it up,” he said.
Read More: Clarity Act, in the flesh, unveiled by U.S. Senate Banking Committee before hearing
Crypto World
CLARITY Act Faces Wave of Amendments Ahead of Markup
The Senate Banking Committee’s CLARITY Act is heading into Thursday’s markup, buried under opposition.
According to reports, Senator Elizabeth Warren alone filed more than 40 amendments before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, and American Bankers Association members sent over 8,000 letters to Senate offices in less than a week demanding changes to the bill’s stablecoin yield rules.
Over 100 Amendments Filed
The total number of proposed amendments going into Thursday is still being confirmed, but according to a list obtained by Politico, there have been more than 100 proposed. To put things in perspective, a total of 137 revisions were proposed before the markup scheduled for January, which was canceled.
Warren’s batch alone covers a wide range of restrictions. One amendment that stood out would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing master accounts to crypto companies, which would effectively cut such firms off from the core infrastructure of the US banking system.
The lawmaker also attacked the updated bill on X, arguing that it lacked ethics provisions tied to President Donald Trump’s crypto businesses.
“No bill should move through the Banking Committee without real ethics guardrails,” she wrote.
That dispute has become harder for negotiators to avoid. Late last month, analyst Simon Dedic claimed that Trump’s meme coin and his crypto-related dinners were part of the reason the CLARITY Act was going nowhere, with Democrats demanding conflict-of-interest language before backing the legislation.
Another revision, filed by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, would prohibit crypto from being used as legal tender, including for paying taxes. That proposal runs directly counter to a bill Representative Warren Davidson introduced last year that would have allowed Bitcoin to be used for precisely that purpose.
Senators Reed and Tina Smith of Minnesota also filed a joint amendment that would incorporate bank-requested changes to the stablecoin yield language.
According to journalist Brendan Pedersen, the proposal will force senators to choose between crypto and the banks on a single vote, making it an uncomfortable moment for Republicans who tend to side with both.
Bankers Blitz Senators With 8,000 Letters
Elsewhere, members of the American Bankers Association have reportedly sent more than 8,000 letters to Senate offices since last Friday, pushing lawmakers to change the bill’s stablecoin yield compromise.
However, Stand With Crypto, the crypto advocacy group, responded with its own numbers on Tuesday, saying its advocates had called Congress 8,000 times and sent 300,000 emails over recent months to protect stablecoin rewards, and have contacted lawmakers nearly 1.5 million times in support of the CLARITY Act overall.
Those on the side of digital assets are framing the banking industry’s lobbying campaign as an attempt to block competition from yield-bearing stablecoins.
Senator Bernie Moreno accused banks of trying to “kill stablecoins that would let everyday Americans earn real yields on their own money.” He also described the banking industry as a “cartel” protecting low-interest deposit models.
But not everyone inside Washington thinks this fight ends at Thursday’s committee vote. According to reporter Sander Lutz, banking policy leaders are already preparing for another push on the Senate floor if they lose the markup battle over yield restrictions.
Meanwhile, crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer privately encouraged Democrats to work toward supporting the bill.
The post CLARITY Act Faces Wave of Amendments Ahead of Markup appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
Fidelity International Launches Tokenized Fund With Chainlink Support
Fidelity International, a global asset manager with about $1 trillion in client assets, has launched a tokenized liquidity fund assessed by Moody’s Ratings.
The new Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ) is issued on blockchain infrastructure linked to Chainlink and was launched through Sygnum Bank’s tokenization platform.
According to Sygnum, the fund received a AAA-mf assessment from Moody’s Ratings, a designation used for money market funds that signals strong credit quality and liquidity.
“This marks an important milestone in the evolution of capital markets, demonstrating how tokenized liquidity products can bring high-quality, yield-bearing liquidity on-chain in a regulated and scalable way,” said Fatmire Bekiri, Sygnum’s head of tokenization.
Cointelegraph approached Fidelity International for comment regarding the news but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Bermuda-based Fidelity International and US-based Fidelity Investments are separate companies that operate in different jurisdictions through their subsidiaries and affiliates.
Chainlink expands role in real-world assets
Fidelity International’s FILQ adds to Chainlink’s growing presence in the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) sector, as the platform is focused on connecting blockchain applications with external real-world data that cannot be accessed natively onchain.
As part of the collaboration, Chainlink will provide onchain net asset value (NAV) and distribution data for the fund, allowing international investors to track fund value and payouts in near real time.

Source: Chainlink
“By adopting Chainlink’s industry-standard platform to deliver verifiable, real-time NAV and distribution metrics, FILQ utilizes the tamper-proof transparency required to securely bridge traditional finance with the onchain economy,” said Fernando Vazquez, president of capital markets at Chainlink Labs.
JPMorgan will provide approved daily NAV data for the fund, Chainlink mentioned.
Related: DTCC to use Chainlink to power 24/7 collateral management network
Chainlink previously collaborated with both Sygnum Bank and Fidelity International for onchain NAV data integration in 2024, marking an earlier production use case for tokenized assets tied to the latter’s Institutional Liquidity Fund.
Tokenized funds expand across markets
The launch comes as large asset managers continue moving traditional cash and treasury products onto blockchain networks. Firms from BlackRock to Franklin Templeton have already debuted tokenized money market funds aimed at bringing short-term yield products onchain.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan filed with the US securities regulator to launch a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, allowing stablecoin issuers to hold reserves backing their stablecoins.
Boston, Massachusetts-based Fidelity Investments also previously issued the Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT), a tokenized money market fund in which Ondo Finance’s OUSG fund serves as the primary anchor investor and accounts for the vast majority of its assets.
Magazine: eToro founder timed Bitcoin top perfectly due to belief in 4 year cycles
Crypto World
ZachXBT Links Teen Crypto Flaunter to $19M Theft Network
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has linked US-based alleged threat actor Dritan Kapllani Jr. to more than $19 million in crypto thefts carried out through social engineering attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders.
In a series of posts on X, ZachXBT alleged that Dritan frequently showcased luxury cars, designer watches, private jets, and nightlife activities across social media while interacting with other threat actors online.
Crypto Laundering Network Exposed
According to the investigator, Dritan was recently recorded during a Discord “band 4 band” (B4B) call on April 23, 2026, wherein he displayed an Exodus wallet allegedly holding $3.68 million in cryptocurrency in an attempt to prove he possessed more funds than another individual on the call.
ZachXBT identified the Ethereum wallet address shown during the exchange and connected it to a major Bitcoin theft that took place on March 14, 2026. The investigator claimed the address traced back to the theft of 185 BTC, worth around $13 million at the time, from a victim targeted through social engineering tactics.
According to the findings, Dritan’s wallet allegedly received approximately $5.3 million from the theft on March 15. ZachXBT stated that by the time the Discord call took place, six weeks later, nearly $1.6 million had already been spent or laundered. The allegations surfaced one day after US authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Trenton Johnson for his alleged role in the 185 BTC theft.
ZachXBT claimed Dritan was identified in the complaint as “Co-Conspirator 1,” although he has not been formally charged. The investigator also noted that meme coin influencer “yelotree” was charged for allegedly helping launder stolen funds through a Miami-based rental car business and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Link to “Lick” Investigation
ZachXBT further connected Dritan to an earlier January 2026 investigation involving John Daghita, also known as “Lick,” who was accused of stealing $46 million from the US government. According to the prominent on-chain sleuth, one of Dritan’s previously used wallet addresses was exposed in a deleted Telegram post shared by Daghita. ZachXBT claimed the wallet was tied to at least five additional social engineering thefts in 2025 that stole more than $5.85 million.
The investigator said he delayed publicly sharing his findings until charges connected to the 185 BTC theft became public and added that Dritan had avoided prosecution partly because he was a minor until recently turning 18.
The post ZachXBT Links Teen Crypto Flaunter to $19M Theft Network appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
Polymarket Records First Drop in Monthly Trading Volume Since August
Monthly trading volume on the Polymarket prediction market fell by about 8.9% in April, the first decline in month-to-month activity since August as rivals like Kalshi increased their market share.
Polymarket and its US-based trading application collectively generated more than $10.2 billion in volume in April, compared to more than $11.2 billion in March, according to data from Dune Analytics.
However, rival Kalshi’s April trading volume surged by about 13%, climbing to about $14.8 billion, Dune data shows.
The total monthly trading volume for prediction markets also increased to about $29.8 billion in April from about $26.5 billion in March, an increase of about 12.4%.

Monthly volume figures for prediction markets. Source: Dune
Polymarket’s volume drop came as the company attempts to fully integrate US markets again, amid increased legal and regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets by US lawmakers after the sector experienced a meteoric growth during the 2024 elections.
To be sure, prediction markets are proving to be attractive to a slew of new competitors.
Prophet, an AI-native prediction market platform, last week launched its first live trading tranche, introducing a system where an AI model acts as the counterparty using real capital. Earlier this week, financial technology company MoonPay debuted an AI technology tool for trading strategies on prediction markets.
Related: Dutch users still access prediction markets despite Polymarket ban
Polymarket eyes US expansion as prediction markets come under fire
Polymarket is seeking to expand its presence in the US after exiting in 2022 as part of a settlement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which barred the platform from allowing US residents on its main, global exchange.
In a bid to regain a foothold, the company launched a dedicated app for US customers in December 2025, albeit a platform that is siloed off from the Polymarket’s global platform and its liquidity.
Several US lawmakers and regulatory officials have raised concerns about insider trading on prediction markets, particularly in markets related to war, energy prices, and other geopolitically sensitive issues.

A letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren and other US lawmakers asks the CFTC to crack down on insider trading. Source: Senator Elizabeth Warren
In March, Senator Elizabeth Warren and more than 40 Congressional representatives wrote to the CFTC demanding a ban on government insiders using prediction market platforms to profit while in office or serving in an official capacity.
“The CFTC maintains that event contracts are a type of swap subject to its jurisdiction, and, therefore, it should ensure that federal employees understand existing restrictions on prediction market insider trading,” the lawmakers said.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul also filed lawsuits against Kalshi, Polymarket, and other prediction markets in April, accusing the platforms of violating state sports betting laws.
Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?
Crypto World
BNB Chain Unveils On-Chain Agent Identity and Payment Framework With ERC-8004 Standard

BNB Chain introduced a framework enabling autonomous agents to obtain verifiable on-chain identities, receive payments, hire other agents, and build reputation through new token standards and skill integrations.
Crypto World
Telecom giant KDDI to acquire 14.9% stake in Coincheck Group in $65 million deal
KDDI, one of Japan’s largest telecom companies, is set to hold a 14.9% stake in local crypto exchange operator Coincheck Group (CNCK) after agreeing to a $65 million deal.
The telecom giant will subscribe for 28.5 million newly issued Coincheck Group shares at $2.28 each, Coincheck said on Wednesday. The deal is expected to close in June.
Coincheck and KDDI also signed what both firms called a business alliance covering customer referrals, revenue sharing and referral fees. The companies said the partnership is aimed at expanding crypto access in Japan through KDDI’s consumer channels and Coincheck’s trading, custody, staking and asset-management services.
KDDI has been building around crypto and Web3 since at least 2023, when it launched αU, a metaverse and Web3 service with a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and crypto wallet.
The company deepened that push through a capital and business alliance with HashPort, a Japanese Web3 wallet developer. The deal was tied to plans allowing users to convert Ponta loyalty points into stablecoins and crypto, and convert those assets into au PAY gift cards.
KDDI will receive registration rights for the shares and the right to nominate one non-executive director to Coincheck Group’s board at its next annual general meeting, expected in September.
Coincheck’s Dutch parent listed on Nasdaq in late 2024 under the ticker CNCK, after a delayed plan to go public through a SPAC deal. The company has since pushed into institutional crypto services, including through its acquisition of digital asset prime broker Aplo.
KDDI, as of December 2025, had over 72 million mobile subscriptions. J.P. Morgan advised Coincheck Group on the deal. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal counsel.
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