CFA Report Pegs US Crypto Fraud Losses at $80.7B

In April, the crypto industry experienced a record number of hacks, with 29 projects falling victim to incidents, including the notable breaches of Solana-based exchange Drift and Ethereum-based restaking app Kelp DAO. The hacks have raised concerns about single points of failure and the prevalence of code bugs in DeFi protocols.

Shuttle Pharmaceutical Holdings is set to acquire United Dogecoin Inc. in a merger with $11 million in financing, aiming to become a major player in Dogecoin mining. The acquisition will provide United Dogecoin with mining rigs to increase its hash rate and establish a strong market position.

Senators Warren and Wyden have requested information about loans made by Tether to a trust benefiting Commerce Secretary Lutnick's children. Allegations of favorable treatment and potential influence have raised concerns about the relationship between Tether and the government.

MegaETH, an Ethereum Layer-2 network, launched its MEGA token with unique unlocking milestones. The project aims for high transaction speeds and real-time applications, backed by $470 million in funding. Wasabi Protocol suffered a $4.5 million attack due to a compromised admin key, adding to DeFi losses in April.

Bitcoin saw a 12% increase in April, its second positive monthly close since September 2025, amidst geopolitical tensions and conflicting investor signals. Despite escalating conflicts and uncertain diplomatic prospects, Bitcoin remained stable, driven by ETF inflows and strategic acquisitions by companies like Strategy.

Bithumb was granted an emergency injunction by a Seoul court, blocking a six-month partial business suspension imposed by South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit for alleged anti-money laundering violations. The court emphasized the impact on Bithumb's core operations and ability to attract new customers.

Strategy has maintained an 11.5% dividend rate for May on its perpetual preferred stock, Stretch (STRC), for the third consecutive month, with a VWAP close to its $100 par value. STRC, marketed as a high-yield savings alternative, aims to reduce volatility and stay near its par value.

Strategy CEO Phong Le suggests using mortgages to invest in Stretch (STRC) for its 11.5% annual dividends, comparing it to a paycheck. However, STRC has no principal repayment guarantees, and dividends can be suspended at any time.

According to a report by TRM Labs, North Korean hackers have stolen over $6 billion from crypto projects since 2017, with two heists in April accounting for 76% of all crypto hack losses. The attackers used sophisticated tactics, including exploiting a Solana feature and launching denial-of-service attacks.

Data from X reveals that crypto is the most muted topic on the platform's "For You" feed, surpassing politics and global conflict. The snooze feature allows users to hide unwanted topics for 24 hours, with mixed responses from users and creators.