MagazinAisle

Author: rb809rb

  • Hackers impersonated eth.limo team to hijack its domain: Post-mortem

    Hackers impersonated eth.limo team to hijack its domain: Post-mortem

    Ethereum Name Service gateway eth.limo has revealed that the domain hijacking on Friday was caused by a social engineering attack directed against EasyDNS, its domain name service provider.

    According to a postmortem published by eth.limo on Saturday, an attacker impersonated one of its team members to initiate an account recovery process with easyDNS, granting access to the eth.limo account and allowing them to alter domain settings.

    “The NS records were changed and directed to Cloudflare… Once we understood that a DNS hijack had taken place, we immediately notified the community as well as Vitalik Buterin and others. We then began contacting EasyDNS in an attempt to respond to the incident,” the company said.

    Eth.limo serves as a Web2 bridge, providing access to around 2 million decentralized websites using the .eth domain name. Hijacking the service could allow an attacker to redirect users to malicious websites. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned users Friday to avoid his blog until the incident was resolved.

    Mark Jeftovic, CEO of easyDNS, has publicly accepted responsibility for the incident in its own postmortem report.

    “We screwed up and we own it,” said Jeftovic on Saturday.

    “This would mark the first successful social engineering attack against an easyDNS client in our 28-year history. There have been countless attempts.”

    Both companies have pointed to the Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) in thwarting the hacker’s attempts to do further damage.

    The attacker couldn’t produce valid cryptographic signatures, so Domain Name System resolvers rejected the attacker’s forged DNS responses, causing users to see error messages instead of being redirected to malicious sites.

    “DNSSEC was enabled for their domain when the attackers attempted to flip their nameservers, presumably to effect some manner of phishing or malware injection attack, DNSSEC-aware resolvers, which most are these days, began dropping queries,” Jeftovic said.

    Source: eth.limo

    In its postmortem, eth.limo noted that because the attacker lacked the signing keys, they were unable to bypass the safeguards, which likely “reduced the blast radius of the hijack. We are not aware of any user impact at this time. We will provide updates if that changes.”

    easyDNS makes changes since the attack

    Jeftovic described the social engineering attack as “highly sophisticated,” and said easyDNS is still conducting a post-mortem on how the breach occurred, and has already begun rolling out changes to prevent a recurrence.

    Source: easyDNS

    “In eth.limo’s case, we will be migrating them to Domainsure, which has a security posture more suited toward enterprise and high-value fintech domains, TLDR there is no mechanism for an account recovery on Domainsure, it’s not a thing,” he added.

    “On behalf of everyone here, I apologize to the eth.limo team and the wider Ethereum community. $ENS has always had a special place in our heart as the first registrar to enable $ENS linking to web2 domains and we’ve been involved in the space since 2017.”

    The eth.limo incident is the latest in a series of domain hijackings targeting crypto projects. Days earlier, decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Swap lost control of its website after an unknown party hijacked its domain.

    Steakhouse Financial, a DeFi advisory and research firm, similarly disclosed at the end of March that it had lost control of its domain to an attacker.

  • Bitcoin, ether, solana slide, oil jumps on renewed U.S.-Iran war risks

    Bitcoin, ether, solana slide, oil jumps on renewed U.S.-Iran war risks

    Bitcoin is absorbing the return of Middle East risk better than oil or equities.

    Bitcoin traded at $74,335 on Monday morning, down 1.6% over 24 hours but still up 4.8% on the week after the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian ship over the weekend and Tehran reimposed controls on the Strait of Hormuz.

    Ether slipped 2.6% to $2,272, Solana fell 1.5% to $84, and BNB held flat at $618, with the broader top-10 showing red across the board but none of the moves breaching 3%.

    Brent crude jumped 5.7% to $95.50 a barrel, European natural gas futures surged as much as 11%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% after Friday’s record close, and European equity futures indicated a 1.2% drop at the open. Gold fell 0.8% to $4,790, and the dollar edged up as traditional war-hedge demand returned.

    The weekend flare-up reversed a three-week unwind of war risk premium. Iran had declared the Strait “completely open” on Friday, prompting the S&P 500’s record close and a broad rally across emerging markets.

    By Sunday morning, Trump was threatening to destroy every power plant and bridge in Iran if negotiations fail, and Tehran was signaling it may skip a second round of talks while the U.S. maintains its naval blockade.

    This is the fourth major Iran-related risk event crypto has absorbed since the conflict began, and the pattern of shrinking sell-offs continues. Earlier escalations produced sharper drawdowns in bitcoin than this one, with each successive flare-up compressing the magnitude of the crypto reaction even as oil and equities continue to price each headline fresh.

    The divergence suggests crypto has largely finished pricing the geopolitical tail risk that traditional markets are still reacting to, either because holders who were going to sell on Iran headlines have already sold, or because the spot ETF bid has become a more reliable floor than the futures-driven weekend gaps that defined earlier cycles.

    What traders will watch through the U.S. session is whether the 10-year Treasury yield holding near 4.27% and the dollar bid pull bitcoin lower through the risk-parity channel, or whether the equity correlation that dominated Q1 loosens on a day when the driver is explicitly geopolitical rather than macro-liquidity.

    If bitcoin holds $74,000 through the European open and the Strait of Hormuz situation deteriorates further, the asset’s emerging reputation as a geopolitical shock absorber gains another data point. If the move extends below $73,000 on any incremental Iran headline, the shrinking-sell-off thesis breaks.

  • Jacqueline Zünd Explores Climate Inequality in ‘Heat,’ Premiering at Visions du Réel: ‘I Found Dystopia in Real Life’

    Jacqueline Zünd Explores Climate Inequality in ‘Heat,’ Premiering at Visions du Réel: ‘I Found Dystopia in Real Life’

    “Heat is like a death sentence.”

    The line, spoken by a Kuwait-based meteorologist in Jacqueline Zünd’s “Heat,” anchors a film that examines global warming not through explanation but through what the Swiss filmmaker describes as “a sensory experience.”

    Premiering in the main competition at Visions du Réel, Switzerland’s leading documentary film festival, “Heat” immerses the viewer in environments where extreme temperatures are entirely reshaping the way people live and work, exposing stark inequalities as the wealthy retreat into air-conditioned worlds, leaving those who serve them to endure the extremes.

    Shot across the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Egypt, the film shifts between a handful of characters, including a delivery driver on 12-hour shifts in scorching urban landscapes, a Kenyan woman working in a Dubai ice lounge, a real estate agent who brings ice and food to stray cats, and the meteorologist who reflects on how daily life has changed as temperatures rise.

    The film grew out of Zünd’s fiction feature “Don’t Let the Sun,” which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival last year. The two were developed in parallel, each feeding into the other.

    “While researching my fiction film, I found so many interesting details about the subject that it felt like an invitation to make a documentary,” she tells Variety.

    In “Don’t Let the Sun,” entire societies shift to living at night – an idea inspired by real working conditions in the Persian Gulf. “There are construction workers who already live at night because it’s too hot during the day,” she explains. “I pushed that idea further in my fiction work: what if our entire lives were reversed?”

    Making the documentary, she says, she found that this imagined future is already taking shape. “I was writing about a dystopia,” she adds. “And then I found this dystopia in real life.”

    Gaining access to these environments proved challenging, says Zünd, not only due to temperatures sometimes exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, but also because companies were reluctant to participate and filming conditions in the region are tightly controlled.

    Filming was done with a minimal crew, sometimes without formal authorization, particularly when shooting inside the delivery driver’s shared accommodation.

    This scene offers only a partial view, Zünd notes. “This one was actually a nice camp compared to the others – some are horrible places, where you have 10 to 15 men in one room without proper air.”

    The shoot also drew attention from authorities. While filming in Dubai, members of the crew were briefly detained and questioned before being released. Zünd says they were not given any explanation for the questioning, which was treated as routine.

    The film’s striking, highly stylized visual language was developed in collaboration with longtime collaborator, cinematographer Nicolai von Graevenitz. The goal, says Zünd, was for the viewer to “feel” the unbearable heat.

    “I always want to translate states visually,” she says. “Not through text or dialogue, but through something physical with images and sound – like a cinematic mirage.”

    Early footage shot in extreme temperatures failed to convey the sensation Zünd had experienced on location. “We were filming in 50 degrees, but it didn’t look hot at all,” she recalls.

    That realization led her to focus more on sound early on in the edit. “The editor was working a lot on levels, on winds – ‘Does this sound hot or not?,’” she explains. “There are a lot of uncomfortable sounds and we had to make sure they were not too uncomfortable and wouldn’t drive the viewers out of the cinema theater,” she jokes.

    Visual strategies also play a key role. The film opens with real mirages filmed near Aswan in Egypt, where atmospheric conditions produce optical distortions. Zünd sought out the location specifically. “I wanted to translate heat visually for the opening of the film – I wanted something powerful,” she says.

    Later in the film, sequences shot on Super 8 introduce what she describes as a temporal shift. “It’s a nostalgia of the present,” she explains. “As if we are remembering today from the future.”

    For Zünd, the decision to focus on sensation reflects her wish to engage with audiences suffering from climate fatigue. “People are tired of being told what’s happening,” she says. “So I wanted to approach it in a different way.”

    “Heat” will premiere in the international competition at Visions du Réel on April 20. Produced by Louis Mataré for Lomotion AG in co-production with Zünd’s Real Film, the documentary is backed by ARTE and SFR (Swiss Radio and Television). Sales are handled by Taskovski Films.

    Visions du Réel runs in Nyon until April 26.

  • LayerZero blames Kelp’s setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea’s Lazarus

    LayerZero blames Kelp’s setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea’s Lazarus

    LayerZero has placed responsibility for the $290 million Kelp DAO exploit on Kelp’s own security configuration, saying the liquid restaking protocol ran a single-verifier setup that LayerZero had previously warned against.

    The attack used a novel vector targeting the infrastructure layer rather than any protocol code.

    Attackers, whom LayerZero attributed with preliminary confidence to North Korea’s Lazarus Group and its TraderTraitor subunit, compromised two of the remote procedure call (RPC) nodes that LayerZero’s verifier relied on to confirm cross-chain transactions.

    RPC nodes are the servers that let software read and write data on a blockchain, and LayerZero’s verifier used a mix of internal and external ones for redundancy.

    The attackers swapped the binary software running on two of those nodes with malicious versions designed to tell LayerZero’s verifier that a fraudulent transaction had occurred, while continuing to report accurate data to every other system querying those same nodes.

    That selective lying was engineered to keep the attack invisible to LayerZero’s own monitoring infrastructure, which queries the same RPCs from different IP addresses.

    Compromising two nodes was not enough. LayerZero’s verifier also queried uncompromised external RPC nodes, so the attackers ran a distributed denial-of-service attack on those to force failover to the poisoned ones.

    Traffic logs LayerZero shared show the DDoS running between 10:20 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday. Once the failover triggered, the compromised nodes told the verifier a valid cross-chain message had arrived, and Kelp’s bridge released 116,500 rsETH to the attackers. The malicious node software then self-destructed, wiping binaries and local logs.

    The attack only worked because Kelp ran a 1-of-1 verifier configuration, meaning LayerZero Labs was the sole entity verifying messages to and from the rsETH bridge.

    LayerZero’s public integration checklist and direct communications to Kelp had recommended a multi-verifier setup with redundancy, where consensus across several independent verifiers would be required to confirm a message. Under that configuration, poisoning one verifier’s data feed would not have been enough to forge a valid message.

    “KelpDAO chose to utilize a 1/1 DVN configuration,” LayerZero wrote, using the protocol’s term for decentralized verifier networks. “A properly hardened configuration would have required consensus across multiple independent DVNs, rendering this attack ineffective even in the event of any single DVN being compromised.”

    LayerZero said it has confirmed zero contagion to any other application on the protocol. Every OFT-standard token and application running multi-verifier setups was unaffected.

    The LayerZero Labs verifier is back online, and the company said it will no longer sign messages for any application running a 1-of-1 configuration, forcing a protocol-wide migration off single-verifier setups.

    The architectural distinction matters for how DeFi prices LayerZero risk going forward.

    A protocol-level bug would have implied every OFT token on every chain was potentially at risk. However, a configuration failure by a single integrator, combined with a targeted infrastructure attack, implies the protocol worked as designed and that Kelp’s security choices, not LayerZero’s code, created the opening.

    Kelp has not yet publicly responded to LayerZero’s framing or addressed why it operated a 1-of-1 verifier setup despite the explicit recommendations against it.

    Lazarus Group has been linked to the Drift Protocol exploit on April 1 and now Kelp on April 18, meaning the same North Korean unit has drained more than $575 million from DeFi in 18 days through two structurally different attack vectors: social engineering governance signers at Drift and poisoning infrastructure RPCs at Kelp.

    The group is adapting its playbook faster than DeFi protocols are hardening their defenses.

  • The Expected Bullish BTC Signal Comes From Bitcoin Bull Michael Saylor!

    The Expected Bullish BTC Signal Comes From Bitcoin Bull Michael Saylor!

    Michael Saylor added a new post to his Bitcoin investment news, signaling a buy. The founder of Strategy, in a social media post, used the phrase “Think Bigger,” drawing attention back to his company’s Bitcoin strategy.

    Market observers note that Saylor’s posts of this kind often signal new Bitcoin purchases. Historical data shows that Strategy frequently announces an increase in its reserves a day after such signals. Therefore, there is speculation that a new announcement regarding an increase in the company’s Bitcoin holdings may come next week.

    Related News Warning: There Are Claims That the Aave and KelpDAO Incident Is Worse Than It Seems, So Don’t Let Your Guard Down

    According to the latest data, Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings stand at 780,897 $BTC. The company’s Bitcoin reserves are currently valued at approximately $58.40 billion, with an average purchase cost of $75,577. Current data shows a 1.04% daily decrease in the portfolio. The company had recently turned a profit on its $BTC holdings, but this has reversed due to the decline in $BTC prices.

    Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy has resulted in a total of 106 separate purchases to date. Among the most recent transactions, a purchase of approximately 13,927 $BTC, worth $1 billion, on April 13, 2026, stands out; and it is noteworthy that high-volume purchases continued throughout March.

    *This is not investment advice.

  • John Oliver Mocks Trump for Calling Pope “Weak on Crime”: “OK, But Who Gives a Sh**?”

    John Oliver Mocks Trump for Calling Pope “Weak on Crime”: “OK, But Who Gives a Sh**?”

    After a couple weeks off, John Oliver returned with a new episode of Last Week Tonight on Sunday, mocking Donald Trump for attacking Pope Leo XIV.

    Several days ago, the Pope weighed in on the Iran war, saying that “whoever is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, never stands on the side of those who yesterday wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

    Noted Oliver: “It was one of a series of statements that made Trump lose his shit.”

    The Last Week Tonight host then pointed to a lengthy post that Trump made on Truth Social that began with the statement that the Pope is “weak on crime.” 

    Which, Oliver said, “in terms of insults, just doesn’t work. It’s like saying this possum is weak on Balkan geography: OK, but who gives a shit? It’s not a possum’s job to correctly place Bosnia and Herzegovina on a map. Her job is to eat garbage, hang upside down and, by this evidence, fuck,” he joked, showing a photo of possums caring for multiple offspring.

    Oliver then showed the image that Trump posted depicting him as a Christ-like figure, wearing a tunic with orbs of light coming out of his hands as if to heal someone. The image “understandably generated fierce backlash and his excuse was pretty weak,” Oliver said, showing a video of Trump explaining that “I thought it was me as a doctor.”

    Responded Oliver: “Oh, that makes sense, a doctor. You know how when you go to the doctor and you get checked in by a nurse and a few bald eagles, and then the doctor comes in and he’s wearing an ancient tunic and says, ‘We’re gonna get you started on antibiotics and on orbs of light born from my very skin. Take them with food.’”

    On Thursday, the president was asked about his feud with the Pope. Oliver showed a news clip in which Trump replied: “I’m not fighting with him. The Pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

    The reporter then fact-checked Trump, saying: “Pope Leo has never said Iran should have a nuclear weapon.”

    Trump was then asked if he’d be willing to meet with the Pope, and he replied he didn’t think that a meeting was necessary.

    “Yeah, I don’t really think it’s necessary either,” Oliver said on his HBO show. “This battle of words has not gone well for Trump. Plus, I don’t think they’d see eye to eye on much other than maybe whether it’s a good idea to cover your workplace in more gold shit than seems physically possible,” he joked, comparing Trump’s infamous gaudy decorating taste and the Vatican’s own aesthetic. “The point is, Trump seems to be on an epic run of picking losing fights, and whatever air of invincibility he had last year is fading fast, all of which is a pretty good reminder that one day he is gonna be gone.”

  • Korea Box Office: ‘Salmokji : Whispering Water’ Maintains Command in Second Weekend

    Korea Box Office: ‘Salmokji : Whispering Water’ Maintains Command in Second Weekend

    The local horror-thriller “Salmokji : Whispering Water” retained its position at the top of the South Korean box office during the weekend of Apr. 17–19.

    According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the film earned $3.3 million from 472,121 admissions, maintaining a commanding 50% share of the weekend revenue. Directed by Lee Sang-min and starring Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won, the film follows a road-view camera crew that encounters terrifying supernatural events at a remote reservoir. Since its launch, the Showbox-distributed title has reached a cumulative gross of $10.2 million from 1,461,849 admissions.

    “Project Hail Mary” held steady in second place, earning $1.3 million over the weekend. Starring Ryan Gosling, the film has now reached a cumulative gross of $17.5 million from 2,298,106 admissions since its Mar. 18 opening.

    In third place, “The King’s Warden” added $712,905 to its record-breaking total. With 104,955 admissions over the three-day period, the film’s cumulative attendance now stands at 16.5 million. While it has slowed significantly in its eleventh week, the historical drama continues to extend its record as the second most-watched film in Korean history, trailing only “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (17.61 million). Its cumulative revenue has reached $108.6 million.

    The identity drama “My Name” debuted in fourth place, earning $380,515 from 60,953 admissions. Directed by veteran filmmaker Chung Ji-young and starring Yeom Hye-ran and Shin Woo-bin, the film is set in 1998 and follows a boy named Young-oak who struggles with his feminine name and complex identity at a testosterone-heavy boys’ school, while his mother Jeong-sun (Yeom) begins to confront long-repressed memories of the 1948 Jeju April 3 Uprising. As Young-oak navigates school violence, his mother’s trauma regarding the historic massacre and state crackdown resurfaces, forcing both to find their place in a society still reckoning with its violent past. Since its Apr. 15 release, the film has grossed $611,162. The film played at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.

    Animation “Goat” debuted in fifth place, earning $114,641 and its cumulative gross stands at $115,563.

    Miyazaki Hayao classic “Kiki’s Delivery Service” re-entered the charts in sixth place following a specialty re-release, earning $140,117. It was followed by the action-thriller “Shelter” in seventh place, which grossed $41,752. Since its Apr. 15 debut, it has earned $71,594. American action-thriller “Normal” opened in eighth place with $34,259.

    Rounding out the top 10 were a re-release of “The Truman Show” in ninth place with $48,875, and the Japanese sports anime “Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle” in tenth with $47,969.

    The overall market collective gross for the weekend was $6.6 million, down from last week’s $8.01 million.

  • Starting 5: LeBron’s dimes lead Lakers, Joker & Murray take control, Knicks & Cavs take Playoff Game 1 wins

    Starting 5: LeBron’s dimes lead Lakers, Joker & Murray take control, Knicks & Cavs take Playoff Game 1 wins

    LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took Game 1 over the Rockets, as The King handed out 13 assists.

    Not in our house.

    Saturday was for the home teams, as higher seeds opened the 2026 Playoffs 4-0.

    With four more Game 1s on the way — two on ABC, two on NBC & Peacock — what does today have in store?

    5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

    April 19, 2026

    LeBron & Luke: James, Kennard lead Lakers over Rockets with Durant out

    Denver’s D: Joker & Murray boost scoring while Nuggets shut down Wolves to win Game 1

    East Winners: Spida’s 32 lead Saturday’s scorers, Brunson opens & KAT closes as Knicks, Cavs take Game 1’s

    ABC Doubleheader: Sixers, Celtics meet for record 116th Playoff game, Thunder’s road to repeat begins

    NBC Sunday Night Basketball: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic, Wemby makes Playoff debut

    BUT FIRST … ⏰

    Reloaded with four more Game 1’s…

    Scores & Schedule

    Sunday brings four more Game 1’s to get all first-round series underway.

    • ABC Doubleheader: No. 2 Celtics meet No. 7 Sixers (1 ET) and No. 1 Thunder start title defense vs. No. 8 Suns (3:30 ET)
    • SNB On NBC & Peacock: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic (6:30 ET) before Wemby makes his Playoff debut vs. No. 2 Blazers (9 ET)

    Playoff Bracket

    1. HOLLYWOOD NIGHT: LEBRON & LUKE SHOW TAKES GAME 1 FOR L.A.

    LeBron James, Luke Kennard

    Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

    Houston and L.A. began their First Round series Saturday without the matchup’s top-3 scorers.

    In response, the game’s all-time leading scorer came out with seemingly one thing on his mind:

    Make something happen.

    Lakers 107, Rockets 98: James (19 pts, 8 reb) dished out eight 1st-quarter dimes, on his way to 13 total, and Luke Kennard netted Playoff career-highs of 27 points and 5 3s (100 3P%) to help the Lakers take a 1-0 lead.

    L.A. was without top scorers Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, while Houston missed Kevin Durant (knee contusion) after a practice collision. | Recap

    • “For me, I gotta do a little bit of everything,” LeBron said postgame. “That’s what the job requires. So that’s being a triple-threat: being able to rebound, being able to pass, being able to shoot. Also defend.”
    • James’ 5th assist – to Kennard – put him at the 2,100 mark for his Playoff career, joining only Magic Johnson as the only players to log that many
    • Getting to 8 in that 1st frame, LeBron set a career Playoff high for any quarter, and a Lakers record for most in any Playoff quarter in the play-by-play era
    • Finishing with 13, James became the first player age 41 or older with both double-digit assists and a points/assists double-double in a Playoff game
    LeBron & Bronny James

    Sean M. Haffey/NBAE via Getty Images

    The passing game wasn’t the only area where LeBron made history, as he and Bronny became the NBA’s first father-son duo to win a Playoff game together.

    • “That’s probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me in my career,” LeBron said of playing in the Playoffs with Bronny. “That’s just insane.”
    • Kennard’s Turn: The sharpshooter’s 27 points equal the 2nd-highest total ever for a player in his Lakers postseason debut, trailing Nick Van Exel by a bucket
    • Houston filled in for Durant with five 15+ point scorers, including Alperen Sengun (19), Amen Thompson (17), Reed Sheppard (17), Tari Eason (16) and Jabari Smith Jr. (16)

    Durant gets an extra day to heal his bruised knee, as the series picks up on Tuesday with Game 2 from L.A. (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

    2. NUGGETS WIN GAME 1: 2ND-HALF SHUTDOWN COOLS RIVAL WOLVES

    Nikola Jokić

    Matthew Stockman/NBAE via Getty Images

    Nikola Jokić had 6 points at halftime. He finished with a 25-point triple-double.

    Jamal Murray went 0-for-8 from 3. He logged a game-high 30 points.

    Denver started 6-for-22 (27.3 FG%) from the field. They won by double-digits.

    Showing no panic, the 3-seed Nuggets let their game find its own way in time, and that paid off for a 1-0 First Round lead.

    Nuggets 116, Wolves 105: Denver shook off a quiet start to catch the Wolves by halftime and lead the rest of the way, with Joker (25 pts, 13 reb, 11 ast) and Murray guiding the group past Anthony Edwards (22 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast) and their rival Wolves.

    Not to be lost in Saturday’s Playoffs excitement, Denver has now won 13 straight games, dating back a full month to its last loss on March 18. | Recap

    • Cold Open: The Nuggets’ 6-for-22 start had them facing their largest deficit of the game (12 pts), and still trailing by double-digits going into the 2nd quarter
    • Tale Of Two Lines: With 3s not falling, Murray started driving, getting to the foul line eight times in his 14-point, 2nd-quarter rally. He finished 16-for-16 from the stripe
    • “We just had to keep shooting,” Murray said. “Myself included. I didn’t make a 3 today. But I didn’t stop shooting. And I was able to find guys and keep the defense on their toes.”
    • A Breakthrough: Then early in the 3rd, a 17-2 Denver run built a double-digit lead, with Jokić going on the attack for 12 of his 25 points in that quarter
    • Joker credited homecourt advantage: “Whenever we needed a little spark, [the fans] were behind our back, and I love to play in front of our crowds. I think they’re great.”

    Anthony Edwards

    From there, the Nuggets held the Wolves to just four made 3s and 43 points in the 2nd half. Minnesota had only seven halves all season of 43 points or fewer.

    • AE & KG: Edwards passed Kevin Garnett twice with his 237th career Playoff assist, in his 32nd career 20+ point playoff game, taking the franchise lead in both categories
    • Murray Joins Jokić: Murray reached his 20th career 30+ point Playoff game, joining Joker (35) as the only Nuggets ever with 20 or more such games
    • Jokić Tops MPJ: Joker passed former Nugget Michael Porter Jr. (166) for 2nd-most Playoff triples made in franchise history

    Game 2 from Mile High comes our way Monday night (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

    3. EAST WINS: BRUNSON OPENS, KAT CLOSES, SPIDA LEADS ALL SCORERS

    Karl-Anthony Towns

    Elsa/NBAE via Getty Images

    Floater in the lane: ✅

    Contested wing 3-ball: ✅

    Fadeaway bank shot: ✅

    Transition triple: ✅

    Face-up fadeaway J: ✅

    Pull-up from long-range: ✅

    Jalen Brunson started Saturday 6-for-6 for 15 points in under 6 minutes.

    All that, and the Knicks were up just six, as both New York and Atlanta shot over 85% in the opening 4 minutes of their First Round series opener.

    Knicks 113, Hawks 102: Brunson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in that 1st quarter, and Karl-Anthony Towns (25 pts, 8 reb) took control down the stretch, as New York outlasted CJ McCollum (26 pts, 4 3s) and Atlanta for a 1-0 series lead. | Recap

    • 2nd-Half KAT: After a 1-for-6 1st half, Towns took the baton from Brunson, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the 2nd half
    • “I was just rusty,” Towns said of his 1st half. “12 days, 13 days without playing… It takes a toll. So just trying to knock the rust off early in the game.”
    • It was Towns who sealed the win in the 4th, sinking a triple followed by an and-1 take for back-to-back 3-point plays, capping a 10-0 Knicks run and stretching their lead to 19
    • “I knew I was gonna get a chance to show what I could do in a pivotal moment,” said Towns. “I felt good about the 4th quarter and I’m glad I was able to make those shots for my teammates.”
    • JB Ties Clyde: Brunson recorded his 29th Playoff game of 25+ points as a Knick, tying Walt Frazier for the 2nd-most in franchise history. Only Patrick Ewing (43) has more

    New York and Atlanta tip off Game 2 at The Garden Monday night (8 ET, NBC/Peacock)

    Donovan Mitchell

    Jason Miller/NBAE via Getty Images

    With 2:01 remaining, the Cleveland crowd rose to its feet.

    The Cavs’ first unit subbed out to a standing ovation, up 16.

    Playoff basketball was back in The Land, celebrating a First-Round, Game 1 win for the third consecutive year.

    Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113: Donovan Mitchell poured in a game-high 32 points, setting an NBA record with his ninth straight 30+ point performance in a series opener, as the Cavs rolled to a 1-0 lead over RJ Barrett (24 pts), Scottie Barnes (21 pts, 7 ast) and the Raptors. | Recap

    • Applause-Worthy: Backing up Mitchell, Max Strus went for a Playoff career-high 24 pts, James Harden (22 pts) dished out 10 assists, and Evan Mobley (17 pts, 7 reb) controlled the paint
    • Go Time: In a 4-point game with 1:11 to play before halftime, Cleveland exploded into the 2nd half with a 27-9 carryover run, leading the rest of the way. Strus had 11 points (3 3s) in that decisive stretch
    • “Coming out in the 3rd quarter, we upped our intensity defensively,” Mitchell said of the getaway run. “And then obviously, offensively, we did what we do.”

    Mitchell’s record-setting nine-game, 30+ point streak in Game 1s has helped him to a 33.1 ppg average across 12 career Game 1s.

    This was his 32nd-career 30+ point Playoff game, and 13th for Cleveland, passing Kyrie Irving for 2nd-most in Cavs history.

    • “32 is 32, but I’m happy I got a steal…” Mitchell said. “I’m finding ways to get rebounds… Those are the little details that carry over to wins.”
    • Harden’s History: The Beard passed Larry Bird (3,897 pts) for 13th place on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list
    • “It’s tough for defenses to try to figure out which ways to guard both of us,” Mitchell said of his first Playoff pairing with Harden. “We gotta keep it up for the series.”

    James Harden

    4. TODAY ON ABC: 76ERS-CELTICS RIVALRY, CHAMPS START TITLE DEFENSE

    Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey

    Isaiah Vazquez/NBAE via Getty Images

    The reunited 2024 champs and the Divisional rival who played them closer than anyone this season.

    The well-rested defending champions and the red-hot shooting squad who won the West Play-In Finale.

    ABC’s Playoff matineé doubleheader delivers on drama and deep storylines. Here’s what to watch for:

    (7) Sixers at (2) Celtics (1 ET): NBA Playoff Sunday tips off with the 116th postseason meeting of Philly and Boston, the most in NBA history.  The Celtics lead this series all-time, 66-50.

    The last time these two franchises met in the Playoffs, the 2023 East Semis went a full seven games, with Jayson Tatum delivering an iconic 50-ball to end it.

    • Jay & Jay: Scoring 20+ points in each of his last seven games, Tatum (21.8 ppg in 16 gm) is reunited with Jaylen Brown, who set career-highs (28.7 ppg) while leading the C’s all year
    • Before Tatum’s return, these two teams lived up to their thrilling history with three early season matchups, each decided by the final possession (2-1 PHI)
    • Philly’s Answer: The Sixers will look to attack with the duo of top-5 scorer Tyrese Maxey (28.3) and two-way talent VJ Edgecombe, the first rookie in 7+ years with 1100 points and 100 steals — not to mention Paul George, who’s averaged 21.2 ppg in his Playoff career
    Dillon Brooks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

    Christian Petersen/NBAE via Getty Images

    Following Philly and Boston, OKC takes off on its road to two in a row.

    (8) Suns at (1) Thunder (3:30 ET): The reigning champs begin their quest to repeat, taking on Devin Booker, Jalen Green and the hot-shooting Suns.

    No NBA team has repeated since the Warriors in 2017-18, with seven straight unique champions since.

    • The Thunder are the NBA’s youngest champion in 50 years, and boast the league’s best defensive rating (106.5) since the 2019-20 Bucks, holding opponents 3.5 FG percentage points below the league average
    • Phoenix joins OKC with a top-10 defensive rating (112.9, 9th), while both teams rank top-5 in steals per game (9.5+)
    • The Reigning MVP: SGA is the first guard in NBA history to average 30+ ppg on 55% shooting. He also ranks 2nd in ppg (31.1), 2nd in iso ppg (8.3), 2nd in 30-pt games (43), and 1st in total clutch points (175)
    • Suns all-time leading scorer Devin Booker has the help of a hot hand in Jalen Green, who enters off the 2nd-ever back-to-back 35+ point performances in Play-In history

    5. SNB: NO. 1 PISTONS, NO. 8 MAGIC COLLIDE BEFORE WEMBY’S PLAYOFF DEBUT 

    Cade Cunningham, Paolo Banchero

    NBC & Peacock’s Sunday doubleheader features two of this Playoff field’s strongest contenders, in East 1-seed Detroit and West 2-seed San Antonio.

    But their respective First Round opponents are uniquely qualified to make this matchup tougher than seedings might suggest.

    (8) Magic at (1) Pistons (6:30 ET): Detroit begins its Playoff after its first 60-win season since 2006-07.

    The league leader in both steals (10.4) and blocks (6.4) per game, the Pistons operate with the identity of defensive physicality – something Orlando just utilized to overpower the Hornets in its Play-In win to get here.

    The Pistons are led by the rising All-Star duo of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.

    • Cade is back from his collapsed lung, and Detroit’s offensive engine was missed: The Pistons have a 120.4 OffRtg with Cade on-floor, and a 111.1 with him off; a 9.3-point swing
    • First-time All-Star Duren dominates the paint with the league’s 3rd-most PITP, while Ausar Thompson logged the most steals in a season (146) by a Piston since Ben Wallace in 06-07

    The Magic enter the series coming off a Play-In game statement, making their third straight Playoffs. The team split its four-game series with Detroit this season.

    • Paolo Banchero has 336 points through his first 12 career Playoff games (28.0 ppg), and led the way for Orlando in its Play-In win, with 12 first quarter points and a game-high 25 overall
    • Acquired last offseason, Desmond Bane has delivered offensively, leading the team in total points (1647) and total 3s (167), and ranking 2nd in assists (338)
    Victor Wembanyama, Deni Avdija

    Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images

    After a year of bending physics on the court — and transforming the Spurs into one of the league’s toughest teams — third-year superstar Victor Wembanyama’s about to make his debut on the league’s biggest stage: The Playoffs.

    (7) Blazers at (2) Spurs (9 ET): Wemby is set to make his first Playoff appearance against a Portland team that beat San Antonio once in three tries this season.

    • The Spurs return to the Playoffs for the first time since 2018–19, with their first 60-win season since 2016–17. They flipped from 60 losses to 60 wins in just two years
    • February March: Half those wins came in the final 2.5 months of this season, losing just four games after the start of February (30–4 record)
    • With Wemby on the floor, opposing teams shot 5.7% worse – the largest on/off difference of the decade – and the Spurs posted a 103.6 defensive rating, which would rank as the best in the league over a full season

    But it’s not just Wemby. He’s backed by a dynamic trio of guards.

    • Stephon Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year, took a leap this season, increasing his points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
    • De’Aaron Fox, a two-time All-Star, finished second on the team in scoring and led the team in total clutch points.
    • Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, provides a spark off the bench for this Spurs squad.

    Portland features the league’s third-best defense since the All-Star break, and an international All-Star on the rise, who’s coming off a huge performance.

    • Deni Avdija became the first player to record 40 points and 10 assists in a Play-In game, capping off a breakout year in which he joined Joker and Luka as the only players to average 24/6/6

     

  • American Financial Advisory Firm Shares Two Reasons XRP Could be a Good Buy Before 2027

    The Motley Fool, an American financial advisory firm, says the $XRP downturn could present an opportunity for investors ahead of 2027.

    $XRP has gone through a tough period, falling 22% since the start of the year and dropping 52% from October 2025, when the current downtrend began. With this decline, The Motley Fool has explained why $XRP could still be worth considering before 2027.

    Key Points

    • $XRP has collapsed 22% year-to-date, currently sitting at $1.43 as the months-long downtrend persists.
    • The Motley Fool shares two reasons this downturn may present an opportunity for investors to procure $XRP before 2027.
    • The first reason focuses on how Ripple is changing its strategy toward a broader ecosystem development.
    • For the second reason, The Motley Fool mentions $XRP’s growing institutional adoption.

    $XRP Downturn Presents Opportunity

    In a report, The Motley Fool pointed out that $XRP has struggled throughout 2026. Notably, from the $3.6 high attained last summer, the token has lost more than 60% of its value.

    The report suggests that this drop may create an opportunity. For investors who have been waiting for prices to come down, this could be the moment to take a closer look, The Motley Fool said. It then highlighted two main reasons behind its outlook.

    Ripple’s Push Toward a Broader Ecosystem

    The first focuses on how Ripple is changing its strategy. In the past, Ripple mainly tried to set up $XRP as an alternative to traditional cross-border payment systems like SWIFT. Since its creation in 1973, SWIFT has handled trillions of dollars in daily transactions, along with other major payment networks.

    However, getting banks to move away from a trusted and widely used system has not been easy. While Ripple has gained some institutional partners, it has not achieved large-scale adoption as a direct replacement for SWIFT.

    As a result, Ripple has started focusing on building a more diverse ecosystem. Instead of relying on a single use case, it is expanding how its technology can be used by connecting with other decentralized projects.

    One major step in this direction was the launch of XAO DAO in June 2025, a community-led initiative that funds projects built within the ecosystem.

    $XRP Institutional Adoption Gains Momentum Amid Regulatory Clarity

    The second reason rests on institutional adoption. The report explains that Ripple’s ecosystem may finally solve one of its biggest challenges: getting large financial institutions on board. These institutions usually prefer systems that are already proven and widely used, rather than new ideas that have not been tested at scale.

    Ripple’s ecosystem could meet these needs by presenting multiple layers, such as systems that help prevent fraud and financial crime. It could also support traditional financial products like ETFs moving onto blockchain networks.

    Moreover, regulation has also started to improve. For instance, Ripple has settled its long-running case with the U.S. SEC, which began in December 2020. The case reached an agreement in May 2025, with the court dismissing the appeals in August 2025.

    At the same time, new laws have emerged in the U.S. Specifically, the report called attention to the GENIUS Act, passed last year, and ongoing work on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The Clarity Act passed the House in July 2025 and has continued through Senate discussions at press time, with further progress expected later that month.

    These developments show that regulators are starting to put clear rules in place. While it is still uncertain how well Ripple will carry out its plans, the report notes that if it gains momentum in 2026, $XRP’s current price could be one of the last chances to buy the token at a reasonable level before 2027.

  • Anthony Scaramucci Says Bitcoin ‘Checks Every Single Box’ Of What Defines ‘Money’ And That’s Why He’s ‘Bullish’

    Anthony Scaramucci Says Bitcoin ‘Checks Every Single Box’ Of What Defines ‘Money’ And That’s Why He’s ‘Bullish’

    ‘Bitcoin Has Built Its Own Trust System’

    In an X post, Scaramucci emphasized the trustworthiness of Bitcoin, comparing it to the trust people have in fiat currencies.

    “A dollar bill is made of linen and cotton. But we accept it because we trust it,” Scaramucci stated. “Over 16 years, Bitcoin has built its own trust system — decentralized, no central authority, no single point of failure.”

    “It’s becoming part of the model portfolio for individuals and institutions worldwide,” the financier said.Scaramucci then stressed the oft-repeated scarcity narrative of Bitcoin, i.e, its 21 million supply cap, and the fact that it is “faster to move and easier to store” than gold.

    “Every characteristic that has defined money throughout human history — Bitcoin checks every single box,” he noted. “That’s why I’m bullish.”

    Not Everyone Agrees

    Economist Tony Annett countered Scaramucci’s claim, asserting that Bitcoin fails as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or reliable store of value.

    What Data Tells Us

    Notably, Bitcoin consistently ranked as the most used cryptocurrency for payments, according to payment processor Coingate, accounting for 44% of all transactions between 2014 and 2025.

    Additionally, roughly 39% of U.S. merchants accept cryptocurrency payments, with around 2,300 businesses directly accepting Bitcoin, according to a February report by CoinLaw.

    Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $74,499.77, down 1.62% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

    Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

    Photo Courtesy: Al Teich On Shutterstock