Criminals in Western Balkans Increasingly Use Cryptocurrency, Posing Challenges for Authorities in Seizing Illicit Assets

The Department of Justice plans to move forward with charges against Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and transmitting criminally derived funds. The DOJ will argue the case in a Manhattan courtroom, dropping one aspect of the charge.

Myriad Markets offer predictors the chance to forecast real-world events like Michael Saylor's Bitcoin purchases. With Strategy owning over 568,000 Bitcoin, predictors are speculating on whether the firm will acquire more. The market indicates a 68.4% chance of Strategy adding 10,000+ Bitcoin to its treasury this week.

Avenir, a Hong Kong investment group, increased its holdings of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) by 3.4 million shares in the first quarter, totaling nearly $700 million. This move reflects the growing interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs among financial institutions.

The SEC has been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers, focusing on a metric claiming over 100 million "verified users," The New York Times reported, citing sources familiar. Coinbase has been in touch with the SEC and hired a law firm to assist with its response.

Progress has been made on the Senate's GENIUS Act, with new language addressing national security, ethics, and Big Tech in stablecoin legislation. The bill still exempts the president and vice president from issuing stablecoins, but now prohibits executive special government employees from doing so.

Arthur Hayes predicts that Trump's economic policies and global instability will drive investors away from US Treasury bonds, pushing Bitcoin to $1 million by 2028. Hayes also suggests that capital controls may be implemented to prevent money leaving Western nations, potentially boosting Bitcoin further.

Bitcoin Depot's shares surged 20% to $2.04 after reporting a first-quarter profit of $12.2 million, with revenue up 19% to $164.2 million. The company holds $7.8 million in Bitcoin and aims to expand into New York by 2025.

Movement Labs, backed by Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial, allocated large token stakes to early insiders without disclosing the deals, raising questions about the project's power dynamics. The agreements with advisers, including Thapaliya and Parekh, were not disclosed to investors but were crucial in shaping Movement's trajectory.

0x, a decentralized exchange infrastructure firm, acquired rival Flood to enhance its competitiveness in the DEX aggregation market. Flood's proprietary software impressed 0x, leading to a complete rewrite of their technology stack for improved performance.

Top cryptocurrencies saw a pullback on Thursday, with Bitcoin dropping to $101,500, signaling a delay in reaching all-time highs. Altcoins like Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin also experienced sell-offs, while the stock market's risk appetite cooled due to the Federal Reserve's interest rate adjustments.