The attacker behind the Verus bridge exploit has returned 4,052 Ether, worth about $8.5 million, to the project’s team wallet after Verus offered a 1,350 ETH bounty for the recovery of most of the stolen funds.

The return represents about 75% of the stolen funds, with the exploiter retaining 1,350 Ether (ETH), worth about $2.8 million as a bounty, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield on Friday.

Verus had offered the bounty a day earlier, saying it would treat the retained ETH as a reward if the exploiter returned 4,052.4 ETH to the team address within 24 hours.

The recovery shows how some crypto projects try to negotiate directly with exploiters to recover stolen funds, though such deals do not necessarily prevent law enforcement or third parties from taking action.

Advertisement

The recovery comes days after the Verus-Ethereum bridge was drained in a forged cross-chain transfer exploit, adding to a string of bridge and decentralized finance (DeFi) attacks that have kept crypto security concerns high in 2026.

Source: PeckShield

DeFi hacks topped $600 million in April

DeFi hacks surged to a cumulative $634 million worth of value stolen in April, data aggregator DefiLlama shows. The $280 million Drift Protocol exploit and the $293 million Kelp exploit represented the largest incidents of the month. 

Total hacked by monthly sum, all-time chart. Source: DefiLlama

Advertisement

Losses have fallen sharply in May, with DefiLlama data showing roughly $38 million stolen so far this month.

Related: Crypto VC funding plunges to $659M in April, hits near two-year low

Still, cryptocurrency hacks remain one of the biggest hurdles halting mainstream blockchain adoption.

During the past decade, crypto hackers stole over $17 billion across 518 recorded incidents, with the majority stemming from compromised private keys, alongside phishing and other credential-based attacks, Cointelegraph reported on April 21. 

Advertisement

Magazine: The legal battle over who can claim DeFi’s stolen millions

Source link

Source link

Key Takeaways

• Citizens JMP Securities lifted Spotify’s price target from $600 to $625, maintaining a Market Outperform rating, highlighting AI-driven product innovation including a remix and cover feature developed with Universal Music Group.
• Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight stance with a $590 target, emphasizing that Spotify now commands greater market confidence compared to its 2022 investor presentation.
• Shares of Spotify climbed 16% on May 21 after the company’s Investor Day outlined ambitious plans to reach 1 billion total subscribers.
• First-quarter revenue increased 14% year-over-year to €4.5 billion, with gross margin reaching 33.0% and free cash flow totaling €824 million.
• Premium average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 5.7% year-over-year in Q1 following a U.S. price adjustment in January, with no material churn impact reported by management.

---

Spotify conducted its Investor Day presentation on Friday, triggering a powerful market reaction. Shares climbed 16% on May 21, reaching price levels that prompted several major Wall Street institutions to recalibrate their forecasts.

Spotify Technology S.A., SPOT

Citizens JMP Securities led the wave of revisions, increasing its target from $600 to $625 while maintaining its Market Outperform designation. The firm highlighted Spotify’s acceleration into AI-enabled features as the primary catalyst for the adjustment.

At the heart of this AI initiative is a remix and cover creation tool, developed through a strategic licensing partnership with Universal Music Group. The feature will be offered as a premium add-on for paying subscribers, which Citizens believes will either maintain or improve profitability margins.

Citizens emphasized that Spotify leverages two decades of proprietary user preference data alongside 3.4 trillion daily engagement signals to power these innovations. The firm believes these capabilities are designed to enhance user retention and unlock new revenue streams.

The stock presently commands a price-to-earnings multiple of 32.8 and trades at 19.3 times projected 2027 EBITDA. With a PEG ratio sitting at 0.22, the valuation suggests the market may still be underestimating the company’s expansion potential.

Advertisement

Morgan Stanley Maintains Conviction

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating alongside a $590 price target, suggesting over 30% potential appreciation from recent trading levels. In a research note headlined “Investor Day Preview: Don’t Stop Believing,” the firm argued that Spotify has established substantially more credibility since its 2022 presentation.

During that previous event, Spotify projected medium-term gross margins of 30% and operating margins of 10%. Market participants were doubtful. The company exceeded both benchmarks ahead of its timeline.

This execution history now strengthens the investment thesis. Morgan Stanley contends that Spotify’s operational scale positions margin enhancement to generate disproportionate earnings expansion moving forward.

First Quarter Performance Validates Outlook

Q1 financial results reinforced this narrative. Revenue advanced 14% year-over-year to €4.5 billion. Operating income totaled €750 million while free cash flow registered €824 million.

Advertisement

With a premium subscriber base of 293 million users, marginal efficiency improvements now create more financial impact than raw subscriber additions alone. The critical question ahead is whether Spotify can sustain gross margins above 33% while simultaneously investing in AI capabilities and product innovation.

JPMorgan also revised its outlook upward, elevating its price target to $650 while retaining an Overweight rating. Jefferies increased its target to $600 with a Buy recommendation, noting encouraging long-term targets extending to 2030.

The January price increase in the U.S. market has proven more resilient than some observers anticipated. Premium ARPU expanded 5.7% year-over-year in Q1, with second-quarter guidance indicating growth between 7% and 7.5%. Customer attrition rates came in as expected.

Automated advertising purchasing now accounts for over 30% of total ad revenue. Management indicated that the ad-supported free tier continues to represent a significant opportunity for enhanced monetization.

Advertisement

Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating with a $555 target ahead of the investor presentation. Barclays preserved its Overweight stance with a $500 price objective.

Source link

Bitcoin is trading at $77.3k to close out the week, locked in a consolidation that has now been running for nearly two weeks around the $75k–$80k range. The ascending channel from February is intact, the short-term support zone at $75k is holding, and the funding rates are positive again. This shows a market that is neither panicking nor rushing. What is building beneath the surface may matter more than what the price chart is showing.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, the ascending channel continues to provide the macro framework, with the lower boundary rising toward $72k and the 100-day moving average also rising just above the same zone.

These two dynamic support elements are located closely and create a strengthening combined floor that closes in on the price every week. The asset has held above the $75k demand zone after getting tested in the past week, and the RSI has stabilized around 50, neither building momentum nor losing it.

The path forward requires a daily close above $80k and the declining 200-day moving average nearby, to build a bullish case again. Below, the support zone at $75k is the immediate support that could still get broken to the downside, which would then open the path toward the 100-day moving average and the lower boundary of the channel.

Ultimately, a daily close below $72k would be a significant structural damage that could put the entire recovery case in jeopardy, and would put the $60 demand zone back in scope.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour chart, the price has bounced from the $75k–$76k order block and is now consolidating directly below the recent structural lower high at $78.2k. The RSI on this timeframe has also recovered from near oversold levels that were reached during the recent sell-off to the mid-50s. This suggests that the bounce has legs without yet generating the momentum needed to clear the resistance above.

The ascending daily channel’s structure is clean, with the floor located at $70k and the upper boundary is now around $83k, where the next critical resistance zone also sits.

A 4-hour close above $78k would be the first confirmation that the price is rebounding, with the bearish Fair Value Gap zone around $80k as the next area to fill before targeting the channel’s ceiling. Yet, failure to clear $78k and a drop below $75k could lead to a further decline toward the key $72k area in the coming weeks.

Sentiment Analysis

The funding rates have returned to a modest +0.004 after oscillating between slightly negative and slightly positive for the past two weeks. The important development is not the current reading in isolation but what it represents in context.

The deeply negative funding that powered the $60k to $80k recovery by providing constant short-squeeze fuel for every upward leg has been largely exhausted. The most recent negative bars have also been shallow, compared to the extremes of February and April.

What this means practically is that the $75k support is holding without the assistance of forced short liquidations, driving the bounce. That is a more credible test of support than anything seen during the short-squeeze-dominated rally. The level is being defended by buyers who are choosing to buy, not by shorts being forced to cover.

If funding oscillates near zero or remains modestly positive as price attempts to reclaim $80k, it would signal that organic long demand is beginning to replace short-squeeze mechanics as the driver, and historically, that transition has marked the point where recoveries become sustainable.

The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Will BTC Stay Stuck in Consolidation Through the Weekend? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Source link

Brent oil price trades at $104.70 on May 22, sitting below one critical technical level. President Trump’s call for a fast Iran deal is pulling the geopolitical risk premium out of crude.

Hedge funds are cutting longs, put hedging is climbing, and the chart is testing channel support. The three signals are now lining up for a critical Brent crude test.

Trump’s Iran Talks Pull Brent Oil Toward a Channel Break

President Trump told the country this week that the Iran war would end “fast”. He added that oil prices would drop sharply once a deal is reached.

The statement marks the clearest de-escalation signal from the White House this month. Geopolitical risk had been the main bid under crude since April.

Want more insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Newsletter here.

Brent has been climbing inside an ascending parallel channel since April 17. The structure is a bullish formation where price rises between two parallel upward trendlines.

The recent slide has pushed Brent against the channel’s lower boundary. A clean break of that line would flip the trend from bullish to neutral/bearish, opening downside for the first time in five weeks. That bearish lean is already showing up in the speculative positioning data.

Speculators Cut Longs as Put-Call Hedging Builds

The CFTC Crude Oil speculative net positions report tracks long minus short positions held by hedge funds and non-commercial traders. The reading peaked at 233,600 contracts the week ending March 28.

The latest May 16 release shows positions at 169,900. That marks a drop of nearly 64,000 contracts, a 27% reduction in seven weeks.

The shift signals fund managers are pulling bullish bets as the geopolitical risk premium fades. The options market is now confirming that move.

BNO is the United States Brent Oil ETF, the main US-listed proxy for Brent crude. Its put-call ratio measures put option activity against call activity, where readings below 1.0 lean bullish.

The volume ratio doubled from 0.15 on May 15 to 0.30 on May 21.

The volume jump means fresh put hedging is rolling in. Overall positioning stays bullish, but the directional conviction is softening fast. Three signals now align with the macro catalyst. The chart confirms the same story.

Brent Oil Price Levels Hinge on $100 Test

Brent oil price sits at $104.70 after losing the 20-day EMA at $105.41. The next test is the 50-day EMA at $100.27.

That level overlaps with the 0.5 Fibonacci level at $100.83. The Fibonacci level maps potential support and resistance based on the prior major move. The confluence puts the $100 round number squarely in focus.

A clean break below $100 confirms the channel breakdown. The measured move target sits at $86.37. Between current price and the measured move, intermediate stops include $97.42 and $92.56.

The 200-day EMA at $82.43 marks the ultimate structural floor. Below that, the 1.618 extension at $68.49 opens up.

For the bullish thesis to hold, Brent needs to reclaim $108.47 quickly. A daily close above $115.30 would invalidate the bearish setup entirely.

The $100 line separates a clean channel hold from a slide toward the $86 measured move target.

The post Brent Oil Price Risks Drop Below $100 as Trump’s Iran Talks Trigger Long Exodus appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Source link

Source link

Germany’s Finance Committee has voted down a Green Party proposal that would have ended the country’s tax exemption for crypto assets held longer than one year.

The bill, introduced by Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, argued the existing rule was designed for physical assets like antiques stored in basements, not digital currencies.

Under current German law, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies are exempt from capital gains tax when held for more than 12 months.

Four Factions, Four Different Objections

The CDU/CSU opposed the measure on fairness grounds, arguing it would create a new inconsistency rather than resolve an existing one. Under the Greens’ proposal, crypto assets would be taxed differently from comparable stores of value such as precious metals and foreign currencies. Germany has cultivated a crypto-friendly reputation largely because of rules like the one-year exemption.

The AfD rejected the bill on broader fiscal grounds, arguing Germany should reduce the scope of taxation rather than expand it. The party contended the state should focus on core functions such as domestic and foreign security and the justice system.

The SPD took a softer position. While the party supports crypto taxation in principle, it said it would hold off on specific legislation until Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil presents his own proposals. The SPD’s stance reflects the broader German crypto policy debate as the EU tightens oversight under MiCA.

Only Die Linke backed the Greens, but pointed to weaknesses in the draft. The party flagged significant administrative complexity and a missing cap on loss offsets from crypto trades, a gap it warned could erode net fiscal gains considerably.

€11.4 Billion Crypto Revenue Estimate Not Enough to Persuade

The Greens cited research from the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center projecting up to €11.4 billion in additional annual tax revenue. The party used roughly half that figure in its own calculations, citing conservative budgeting. The study found that German crypto investors realized €47.3 billion in gains in 2024, with nearly two-thirds escaping tax under the holding-period rule.

With the bill defeated, Germany’s one-year crypto tax rules stay unchanged even as 2026 brings new reporting requirements for investors across Europe. The coming months will show whether Klingbeil’s proposals reopen the debate or shelve it entirely.

The post Germany’s Finance Committee Rejects Bid to End Crypto Tax Exemption appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Source link

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2085.44, down 0.0% (-0.18) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Fourteen of the 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: NEAR (+19.4%) and ICP (+4.3%).

Laggards: SUI (-2.6%) and XRP (-1.0%).

Advertisement

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

Source link

Source link

China’s securities regulator is shutting down mainland operations of major online brokers Tiger Brokers, Futu Holdings, and Longbridge over a two-year wind-down. These are online brokerage platforms based in Hong Kong and overseas that let users trade US, Hong Kong, and other global stocks from their phones.

Mainland Chinese investors flocked to them because they offered cheap, easy access to foreign markets like US equities. Now, some of that frozen capital could flow into crypto channels like USDT and OTC desks.

What the CSRC Crackdown Targets

The cases name Tiger Brokers (NZ) Limited, Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, and Longbridge Securities (Hong Kong) Limited.

Each entity allegedly handled trading orders, public fund sales, and futures brokerage for mainland customers without a Chinese license.

According to the CSRC, the firms violated the Securities Law, the Securities Investment Fund Law, and the Futures and Derivatives Law.

The agency plans to seize all illegal gains from the domestic and overseas units involved in the business.

“In accordance with relevant regulations, the CSRC intends to confiscate all illegal gains of Tiger Brokers (NZ) Limited, Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, and Changqiao Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, both domestically and internationally, and impose severe penalties according to law,” local media reported.

Existing mainland users will only be allowed to sell positions and withdraw funds during the two-year wind-down. New deposits and new buy orders are blocked immediately.

After the cleanup window, the platforms must shut their China-facing websites, apps, and servers.

Legal overseas routes such as the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program and the Hong Kong Stock Connect stay open.

The FUTU and TIGR stocks dipped on the news and were trading for $123.84 and $5.84, respectively, as of this writing.

Why Crypto Rails Could Absorb Some of the Flow

China’s $50,000 annual foreign exchange quota leaves most retail investors with little legal room to move money offshore.

Tiger and Futu filled that gap for years through grey-market onboarding. Their mainland clients have driven a large share of trading revenue at both firms.

With those accounts frozen, demand could rotate toward over-the-counter (OTC) desks and peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges.

These channels form the main route for Chinese traders bypassing restrictions, often running through offshore platforms accessed via VPN.

Tether’s USDT remains the dominant on-ramp. Underground brokers have routinely sold USDT at premium prices against the yuan during past capital flight episodes.

A similar premium could return if Tiger and Futu’s mainland clients shift to crypto.

The wider stablecoin dollar dominance trend shows how quickly USD-pegged tokens can fill gaps left by TradFi. Industry estimates put the number of Chinese crypto users at over 20 million despite the 2021 ban.

Legal Channels Survive, But Crypto Faces Its Own Wall

The QDII program, Cross-border Wealth Management Connect, and the Hong Kong Stock Connect remain open.

However, those routes carry strict quotas, higher fees, and limited product menus. None of them match the speed or breadth of US stock access Tiger and Futu offered.

“Bitcoin as a Limitless Haven: Unlike traditional investments, Bitcoin has no QDII/QFII limits…Chinese fund houses face overseas investment quotas under the QDII program… quotas are quickly reached daily, leading to premiums… quotas are maxed out, halting some mutual funds… tired of the restrictions…,” analyst Kyle Chasse stated.

Crypto is also far from a safe substitute. Beijing has spent 2026 widening its position against private digital assets.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the CSRC expanded China’s sweeping crypto ban in February. The notice now covers stablecoins and tokenization activity.

The same February policy, which marked China’s stablecoin enforcement push, targets foreign issuers that offer services to Chinese residents.

Any large rotation into USDT or on-chain US equity products would likely draw similar scrutiny.

The brokers have the right to a hearing before final penalties are issued. Beijing’s two-year deadline gives regulators time to monitor where displaced capital lands.

The post China’s Offshore Trading Crackdown Could Unleash a New Wave of Crypto Capital Flight appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Source link