🔸️Ethereum | Bitcoin & Altcoin News

🟠 Binance-linked HKVAEX Officially Stops Supporting Hong Kong Users From April 30 Hong Kong-based crypto exchange HKVAEX, affiliated with Binance, has announced the permanent closure of its trading platform. The decision comes just over a year after HKVAEX launched its virtual asset trading platform (VATP) in February 2023. The move was aimed at securing its position as a pre-existing service provider to meet regulatory requirements set by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

🇺🇸 DOJ Counters Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Tornado Cash Developer The government’s submission to the Southern District of New York opposes dismissing the charges against Roman Semenov, who, along with Roman Storm, is accused of operating Tornado Cash as a mechanism for cybercriminals to launder more than $1 billion, including monies linked to North Korea’s armament programs. The document specifies that from September 2020 to August 2022, Tornado Cash reportedly engaged in extensive laundering activities, using blockchain anonymity technology to conceal the origins of illegal funds. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

💰 Bitcoin Breaks Daily Transaction Record Days After Halving The new record comes three days after the Bitcoin Halving, coinciding with the launch of Runes. The launch of Runes sparked a rapid increase, demonstrating growing interest and utility in cryptocurrencies, setting a new all-time high in Bitcoin’s transaction activity. Runes, a new token standard on the Bitcoin blockchain, has dominated transactions since its launch following the halving on April 20, accounting for over two-thirds of all Bitcoin transactions. With more than 2.38 million transactions processed, Runes make up 68% of the total. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

📣 Pantera Capital’s Fund V Targets $1 Billion for Diverse Blockchain Investments Pantera Capital is seeking to secure $1 billion for its new fund, ‘The Panter Fund V. ‘ It is designed to provide investors with exposure to a wide range of blockchain-based assets. The Pantera Fund V has been designed to be an all-encompassing product, differing from the digital asset investment manager’s previous funds with more specific investment focuses such as the Liquid Token Fund, Early Stage Token Fund, Bitcoin Fund, and Venture Funds. Qualified investors must allocate a minimum of $1 million, with the first close scheduled for April 1, 2025. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

💰 Bitcoin ETFs in the US drive higher crypto allocations among institutional investors Institutional investors increasingly sought exposure to crypto during the first quarter of the year following the launch of several US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January. The CoinShares Digital Fund Manager survey revealed that these institutional investors have significantly increased their digital asset allocations, reaching 3% in their portfolios. This marks the highest level since the survey’s inception in 2021. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

🪙 Ether spot ETF approval seen as increasingly doubtful by industry professionals: Reuters U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve spot ether exchange-traded funds in May, according to a Thursday report from Reuters — which claims that industry sources expect the SEC to deny applications to launch spot ether ETFs in May after U.S. issuers and other firms had discouraging meetings with the agency in recent weeks. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

⚡️ PORTAL seems to be cooking up some new things with their new launchpad The debut token on the Portal Launchpad is $SOMO (https://twitter.com/playsomo) and those who stake $PORTAL will be able to receive a guaranteed allocation for the $SOMO sale which is happening on Thursday, 25th April at 11 am EST and I’m expecting this to skyrocket 🤑 Within the niche of Web3 gaming, we’ve seen many successful launches recently such as My Pet Hooligan’s $KARAT – $SOMO could be next. SOMO will quite literally be the Pokemon Go of Web3 and is also a playable 3D game $SOMO seems to be the next big cook following after $PORTAL’s success, hitting a 3bn FDV and it was the biggest Binance Launchpool launch in history. I would really recommend picking up some $PORTAL and staking via their launchpad for the $SOMO sale➡️ https://launchpad.portalgaming.com ⏺Wallets will be able to purchase up to 1 ETH of $SOMO and to balance the demand against the available allocation – there will be a weighted raffle to give everyone a fair chance. Your chances in the raffle are dictated by your ticket size and how early within the 24 hours you purchase. The earlier you purchase and the bigger your ticket, the more $SOMO you’re likely to receive. The current presale price terms seem very fair considering other rounds available like Pixelmon’s $MON and Revolving Games’ $RCADE. ✖️ Portal Twitter: https://twitter.com/Portalcoin ✖️ SOMO Twitter: https://twitter.com/playsomo

🇪🇺 EU's anti-money laundering bill passes final vote, here's what's next for crypto-asset service providers The European Parliament adopted new rules that would formally put in place due diligence requirements for crypto firms in a bid to combat money laundering. The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to adopt a package of laws that would in part enhance "due diligence measures and checks on customers’ identity" including so-called crypto asset managers. They would also have to report suspicious activities to authorities. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

💰 Bitwise CIO makes 5 predictions ahead of Bitcoin's next halving, including a $250,000 price target Bitcoin’s fourth halving out of the way, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has made five predictions ahead of the next one, estimated for April 2028. In a memo to clients earlier this week, Hougan’s expectations focused on lower volatility, increased portfolio allocations and exchange-traded fund flows, central bank involvement and a price target of over $250,000 for bitcoin in the years ahead. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News

🇸🇻 El Salvador 💰 bitcoin wallet suffers source code, VPN access leak El Salvador's bitcoin wallet has suffered a security breach, marking the latest attack on its national crypto program. Cybercriminal group CiberInteligenciaSV leaked on Tuesday snippets of the wallet's source code and VPN access information on an online hacking forum. The exploit marks one of the latest attacks against El Salvador’s official Chivo Wallet for bitcoin, which have plagued the program as the prices of some cryptocurrencies sail to two-year highs. Source ETH | BTC & ALTCOIN News