BTC Surpasses $103,000
On the wave of the market rise, Bitcoin has once again broken through the psychological mark of $100,000 - it was at these heights for the last time in early February. The sharp jump was accompanied by a noticeable increase in trading activity. At the moment, BTC is trading at $103,450.
Solana Patches Critical Vulnerability
The Solana Foundation and Jito have fixed a vulnerability in ZK ElGamal discovered by Anza. The bug allowed the creation of fake proofs and the issuance of tokens without restrictions. The patch began to be distributed on April 17, and by April 18, most validators had updated the software. One commentator noted that an agreed and silent fix involving 70% of validators indicates a risk of a "zero-day". In late April, the team announced measures to strengthen decentralization. There are 1,218 validators on the Solana network, and 17,126 on Ethereum, of which 11,025 use Geth. 65% of SOL and 28% of ETH are locked in staking.
Tether Announces AI Launch
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino unveiled Tether AI, a personal artificial assistant designed for broad accessibility. According to him, the solution is focused on maximum user independence: the platform can be launched on any device, without the need to connect to centralized servers or use API keys. The system is open to modifications, easily customizable for individual tasks, and supports payments in USDT and BTC.
Ethereum Devs Activate Pectra Update
The Pectra update has been activated in the Ethereum mainnet — the largest upgrade by the number of proposals, including 11 EIPs and aimed at improving convenience and scalability. Among the key changes is the transformation of wallets into smart contracts, simplifying their use and recovery.
Earlier, the implementation of the upgrade on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets was accompanied by failures, including attacker intervention and problems with the validator exit. To complete the verification, a new Hoodi testnet was launched, where the update was activated in March.
According to the Ethereum team, all the main functions are already working in the mainnet. The developers will continue to monitor for failures in the next 24 hours. As Edward Chen from Parataxis Capital noted, the update did not have a significant impact on the price of ETH: in 24 hours, the asset rose in price by 2.5%, bitcoin — by 3% (data from CoinGecko).
Netflix Plans Biopic About FTX Crash, Bankman-Fried
Netflix is preparing a series about the collapse of FTX, which will focus not only on financial fraud, but also on the personal relationships of key figures. Emmy nominee Julia Garner will play the role of the head of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison. The actor for the role of Sam Bankman-Fried has not yet been approved, but the candidacy of Evan Peters, known for the series "DAHMER", is being discussed.
The script for the project is entrusted to Oscar winner Graham Moore. The story will unfold against the backdrop of the rapid decline of the crypto exchange and will be built around the complex relationship between Ellison and Bankman-Fried. Netflix received exclusive rights to the adaptation and plans to release an eight-episode project.
German Authorities Shut Down eXch Platform
On April 30, German law enforcement officers shut down the eXch crypto exchange and seized assets worth €34 million. The service, launched in 2014, allowed anonymous exchange of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash without KYC.
The investigation established that about $1.9 billion passed through the platform, including part of the funds stolen during the hack of the Bybit exchange. eXch was actively promoted on shadow forums, emphasizing the complete lack of KYC and data storage.
The closure operation took place the day before the scheduled shutdown of the service. With the participation of the Dutch tax service, 8 TB of data and cryptocurrency were seized - this is the third largest confiscation in the history of the BKA. The head of the cyber department, Carsten Maiwirth, said that the platform operated "on an industrial scale."
