Linera Launches Babbage Testnet

April 22 — Multiple technical indicators suggest Bitcoin (BTC) is on the cusp of a new bout of significant volatility, according to Cointelegraph. The monthly Bollinger Bands have shrunk to their narrowest range on record, with analysts noting that an expansion of this range could trigger a strong rally. Past instances of this pattern preceded the start of bull markets in 2016 and 2020. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s monthly Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to its lowest level since the 2022 bear market and has again touched a long-term support trendline. This signal combination has historically coincided with market bottoms, followed by a sharp rebound. In the near term, however, resistance remains a key hurdle. Analysts emphasize BTC needs to break above the $78k-$80k range on a sustained basis to confirm the uptrend’s continuation. Order book data points to heavy selling pressure in that zone; a successful breakout would set the stage for a test of the $84k-$86k range next.

April 22 — PeckShield monitoring shows the KelpDAO attacker has begun transferring stolen assets: they’ve sent some stolen ETH from the Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum via Across Protocol, swapped it for USDT, then routed it to the TRON DAO ecosystem via LayerZero. This trajectory indicates the attacker is diversifying and laundering funds through multi-chain bridges and stablecoin conversions; further tracking of the fund flow remains ongoing.

April 22 – A shipping chief at a commodities trading firm warned that Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have set a dangerous precedent for the free flow of global trade. Since the Middle East war broke out in late February, Iran has been trying to impose a transit fee on vessels passing through the strait, triggering strong protests from international shipping regulators. “A dangerous precedent is being set here—one that infringes on vessels’ right to innocent passage,” said Larry Johnson, Global Head of Freight at Mercuria Energy Trading. “If key shipping lanes or waterways start charging tolls, or are disrupted/threatened in a way that normalizes such fees, what’s next? The Black Sea, Danish straits, Strait of Malacca—who can say for sure? The free flow of global trade is no longer guaranteed.” (FX Street)

April 22: USDT’s circulating supply has topped $187 billion, marking a new all-time high, per Artemis data. Additionally, DeFiLlama figures show the stablecoin’s current market share stands at 58.82%.

April 22 — Per data from HyperInsight Monitoring (Telegram: @HyperInsight), the short-term price of HYPE briefly hit $41 earlier today. A whale wallet (address: 0x4a8807a2dc7321cdaa8ee579a50e67a7ede01472) had its short position liquidated after its stop-loss triggered at a liquidation price of $41.01, resulting in an approximate $44,000 loss. The short was opened this morning at an average entry price of $39.6, with an initial position size of $1.32 million.

April 22nd — A weekend hack targeting small crypto projects that siphoned nearly $300 million, plus a subsequent massive run on a $10 billion decentralized lending platform (linked to the KelpDAO and Aave incidents), may dim Wall Street’s interest in blockchain technology, per a JPMorgan report cited by Bloomberg. JPMorgan Digital Asset Research analyst Andrew Moss noted that over the past year, banks, asset managers and payment firms have built blockchain tools akin to the tech system North Korean hackers exploited in the attack. While the report says such incidents are unlikely to directly hit traditional financial markets, it warns traditional financial institutions could pause related efforts and reassess risks before moving forward with further blockchain initiatives.