Crypto Publish 🪙 Shilling

DeFi DAO introduces permissionless listings with AI enhancement Ooki, a decentralized finance DAO, innovates by combining artificial intelligence and permissionless listings. The decentralized finance (DeFi) space is crowded with thousands of tokens with varying use cases, while coins with new utilities emerge occasionally. While enriching the DeFi ecosystem with diverse investment options, this proliferation of tokens also introduces a significant challenge for users.

SEC asks for comments on BlackRock's amended spot Ethereum ETF proposal The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is asking for public comments on changes made to BlackRock's proposed spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund. The world's largest asset manager is vying along with others for a spot Ethereum ETF, though optimism that one could get the SEC's greenlight in the next month has diminished. BlackRock filed for its spot Ethereum ETF in November 2023.

IRS Previews Potential Form 1099-DA for Reporting Brokered Sales of Digital Assets The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has previewed a draft tax form, 1099-DA, for crypto investors to report taxable gains or losses from brokered digital asset transactions. The form includes individual token codes, spaces for wallet addresses, and instructions on finding transactions on the blockchain. Cryptocurrency businesses are concerned about how the IRS will identify brokers required to comply with the new system. The final rule is expected to be completed this year.

MarginFi outflows $190M as CEO rage quits amid token controversy Nearly $200 million of user funds have exited Solana-based lending protocol MarginFi over the last two days amid an abrupt resignation of the platform’s CEO and followed by accusations of wrongdoing from its competitors. On April 10, the now-former CEO of MarginFi, Edgar Pavlovsky, suddenly announced he had resigned from MarginFi, citing disputes that had arisen from both within his firm and from outside of it.

Nansen exposes Arkham’s dubious $55m transfers in ARKM via Binance Blockchain forensics firm Nansen has uncovered Arkham’s shady $55 million transfers in ARKM, suggesting potential sales on Binance. Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain deanonymization platform backed by Binance and others, has found itself in hot water after its rival Nansen revealed that Arkham sent over $55 million in ARKM tokens to unlabeled addresses, which then allegedly sold the tokens on Binance. In an X thread on Apr. 4, Nansen wrote that Arkham had moved over 25.2 million ARKM tokens over the past few days, with most of the funds gone to “wallets unlabeled on their platform, where a significant portion has moved to Binance.” Among the recipients, two addresses sent over 2.6 million ARKM tokens directly to a Binance market-making address, Nansen said, adding that another two routed the funds through new addresses before eventually reaching a different Binance address, prompting intrigue over the complexity of the transfers. Nansen noted there are still remain 200,000 ARKM that have not yet been transferred to Binance, However, the possibility remains open, with recent activity suggesting a potential future move to the exchange, the firm added. Founded in 2020, Arkham Intelligence gained prominence for disclosing numerous crypto addresses, offering valuable insights to blockchain researchers. The platform secured funding from various investors, including Bedrock Capital, D1Ventures, Draper Associates, Sam Altman, and notably, Binance, which not only supported Arkham through its venture arm, Binance Labs but also assisted in raising $2.5 million via Binance Launchpad, the exchange’s crowdfunding platform for startups. As of press time, Arkham Intelligence made no public statements regarding the revelations, leaving uncertainties about whether the token sales originated from the Arkham team or its backers.

DeFi Protocol Cega's New Options Product Marries Gold, Ether to Offer Up to 83% Yield Decentralized finance (DeFi) projects are continuing to develop structured products, which offer decent returns, market exposure and protection from losses and were previously available only to institutional investors in traditional markets. Last week, derivatives protocol Cega unveiled Gold Rush, a basket options strategy involving the Ethereum blockchain's ether (ETH) token and Tether's gold-backed {{XAUT}} as underlying assets alongside a safety component that protects users' capital from a 30% drop in the assets' prices.

LAPD Recovers $6.9 Million Worth of Stolen Bitcoin Mining Rigs, Suspects in Custody The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has apprehended three individuals following the theft of bitcoin mining equipment valued at $6.9 million. The Commercial Crimes Division’s Cargo Theft Unit announced the retrieval of all stolen items. The event first came to light through coverage by KTLA, with local journalist Josh DuBose revealing the identities of the accused as 47-year-old Vardan Vardanyan, 36-year-old Vagarshak Vardanyan, and 34-year-old Samvel Pilovan.

MicroStrategy now holds over 1% of bitcoin's total supply after latest purchase Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy acquired 9,245 more bitcoins for $623 million in cash, increasing its total bitcoin holdings to 214,246 BTC. With this latest purchase, the company now holds over 1% of the total bitcoin supply, comprising 21 million coins. MicroStrategy's latest acquisition took place between Mar. 11 and Mar. 18 at an average price of $67,382 per bitcoin, including fees and expenses, the business software company said Tuesday.

Solana's memecoin mania pushes on-chain volumes and fees to new highs The popularity of memecoin trading and speculation on Solana has pushed on-chain volumes — in U.S. dollar terms — to a new all-time high on Friday. Volume on Ethereum's foremost competitor exceeded $3.79 billion to end the work week, according to data from DefiLlama. The blockchain's previous all-time high volume was $2.85 billion — a figure set earlier this month. Saturday was close to Friday's all-time high.

Trump says he has no intention of stopping people from using Bitcoin Former US President Donald Trump said that Bitcoin is an “additional form of currency” that has “taken on a life” of its own, and he has no intention of stopping people from using it. Trump made the statement during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on March 11. His comments come amid a backdrop of growing interest in crypto as Bitcoin has once again entered price discovery mode after setting a new all-time high.