XMR Price Jumps 50%
On-chain analyst ZachXBT reported a transfer of 3,520 BTC worth $330.7 million, which turned out to be a theft. According to him, the victim was an elderly US citizen who was deceived using social engineering. The analyst noted that the victim was an experienced user who had previously interacted with the Gemini, River, and Coinbase platforms. The assets were suddenly fragmented into hundreds of small transactions, while the fees reached seven-digit amounts - which indicates activity that is not typical for ordinary users. To withdraw funds, the attacker used atomic swaps with fees from 1% to 3%.
Against the backdrop of the rapid growth of the Monero rate to $329, other anonymous cryptocurrencies also rose in price: ZCash showed an increase of 12%, Dash - by 11%. By the time of publication, the Monero rate had corrected to $267, with about 20% growth recorded in a day.
Base Reaches Stage 1 Decentralization
The developers of the second layer of the Base network for Ethereum announced the achievement of the first stage of decentralization (Stage 1) - an important step towards the creation of an open on-chain economy. According to them, this provides a stable and predictable infrastructure for projects, increases fault tolerance and gives users the opportunity to participate in ensuring the security of the network. The basis of the approach is the framework of gradual decentralization proposed by Vitalik Buterin.
The transition to Stage 1 was made possible by the launch of the Fault Proofs system based on the OP Stack. Now any participant can challenge incorrect network states through open source software, receiving an economic reward in case of a successful challenge. Another condition was the distribution of control over updates. For this purpose, an independent Security Council of 10 participants was created; approval of changes requires 75% of votes, which excludes the influence of one party.
Tether Reports $1 Billion Profit for Q1
Tether recorded $1 billion in operating profit from traditional investments in the first quarter, according to the commentary on the USDT issuer's attestation report. The profit was provided by the growth of US government bond yields, while the revaluation of gold partially offset the volatility of BTC. The USDT supply volume increased by about $7 billion, reaching $143.68 billion. The number of user wallets increased to 46 million.
The total risk on US government bonds approached $120 billion, including investments through money market funds and repos. Direct investments amounted to $98.5 billion. Excess reserves decreased to $5.59 billion from $7.09 billion at the end of 2024, mainly due to the payment of dividends of $2.35 billion.
Tether also indicated investments of over $2 billion in projects related to AI, energy, peer-to-peer networks and data infrastructure. The report was audited by BDO, which confirmed the accuracy of the data. January-March was Tether's first reporting period under the supervision of the regulator in El Salvador, where it is now headquartered. The XAUT stablecoin was also confirmed to be backed by gold at the end of the quarter.
Ethereum: Fusaka Hard Fork to H2 2025
The Ethereum upgrade called Fusaka is scheduled for the second half of the year, approximately September or October. This was announced by Ethereum Foundation co-executive director Tomasz Stanczak, noting that the exact launch dates have not yet been confirmed. He also confirmed that preparations for the Pectra hard fork, scheduled for May 7, are proceeding according to plan.
Core developer Tim Beiko reported that the Ethereum Object Format (EOF) upgrade has been excluded from the Fusaka specification due to technical uncertainty that could affect the release dates. EOF involved optimizing the Ethereum virtual machine bytecode to reduce gas costs and improve contract efficiency.
A key element of Fusaka will be the implementation of PeerDAS, a protocol aimed at unloading nodes, improving data distribution and increasing throughput. It will also increase the volume of BLOB data to 32 MB.
Scammers Send Paper Letters to Ledger Crypto Wallet Owners
Cryptocurrency wallet maker Ledger has confirmed a scam campaign in which criminals send out paper letters to steal seed phrases. Trader Jacob Canfield reported receiving a fake notification, branded as Ledger, calling for a “critical security update.” The user was asked to scan a QR code and enter a recovery phrase to “verify the wallet.” According to Canfield, the scammers are using addresses from a database previously leaked by Ledger. The company reminded that it never contacts customers first and does not ask for recovery phrases under any circumstances.
TV Series to Be Made About Briton Who Lost 7,500 BTC
American media company Lebul has acquired exclusive rights to film the story of British citizen James Howells, who lost a hard drive with 7,500 BTC. The story of a 12-year struggle with the authorities and attempts to find the lost drive will form the basis of a large-scale media project - a documentary series, a podcast and content for social networks. The series is called "The Buried Bitcoin: The Real-Life Treasure Hunt of James Howells". According to the creators, the project has already attracted interest from crypto companies, streaming platforms and sponsors around the world.
In 2013, Howells accidentally threw away a disk with keys to a bitcoin wallet. He repeatedly tried to get it back - he offered the authorities funding, as well as the use of X-ray equipment and robotic dogs from Boston Dynamics.
