Tag: CRYPTOS FoxBusiness.

As allegations of manipulation surrounding the controversial RaveDAO ($RAVE) token in the cryptocurrency market intensify, a noteworthy statement has come from Binance, one of the sector’s largest exchanges.

Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng announced that allegations of insider trading on the $RAVE token are being taken seriously. Teng stated that the exchange has launched an investigation into the matter, adding, “We will always do our part to investigate all market abuses.”

The statement comes after recent sharp price movements in the $RAVE token and allegations of a “pump and dump” scheme. Market participants point out that high supply controls and sudden price fluctuations pose risks for individual investors.

$RAVE, an altcoin that has been the subject of much discussion lately due to its sharp fluctuations, lost 60% of its value today. However, it is still trading at a level 255% higher than it was 255% earlier in the last week.

*This is not investment advice.

The US SEC brought enforcement action against Donald G. Basile and his companies, GIBF GP, Inc. and Monsoon Blockchain Corporation, over a $16 million crypto securities offering tied to Bitcoin Latinum (LTNM), which Basile launched in 2020.

According to the SEC, Basile, through GIBF and Monsoon, sold Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs), promising future delivery of a token called Bitcoin Latinum, which ultimately failed.

Regulators claim Basile misrepresented key aspects of the project, including nonexistent insurance coverage, false claims of asset backing, and misleading statements about how investor funds would be used to support the token ecosystem.

The SEC also alleges that rather than using investor funds as promised, the entrepreneur misappropriated millions for personal uses, including real estate purchases, credit card payments, and a high-value horse.

The project ultimately failed. LTNM was never properly launched or listed on major exchanges, activity ceased, and the token became worthless, leaving investors with major losses.

The SEC charges GIBF and Monsoon with violating the anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws and that Basile is directly liable as well as responsible for aiding the violations.

The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, repayment of ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, and a ban preventing Basile from serving as an officer or director of a public company, along with other equitable remedies.

As diplomatic talks continue regarding a possible agreement in the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US, noteworthy new statements have emerged from Tehran.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf strongly criticized the US administration’s rhetoric and sent clear messages regarding the ongoing disputes over the Strait of Hormuz.

Ghalibaf intensified his criticism of Washington, arguing that all seven claims made by US President Trump in a short period of time were “false.” The Iranian official explicitly stated that the Strait of Hormuz would not remain open if the current naval blockade continued.

Ghalibaf also stated that passage through the strait would not be entirely free, arguing that ship traffic would only take place via “designated routes” and “with Iran’s permission.”

On the other hand, developments throughout the day increased uncertainty on the ground. Although Iranian Foreign Ministry officials stated that the strait was open, it was reported that 10 to 20 ships attempted to pass through, but the vast majority turned back. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly maintained that the strait was still closed.

According to diplomatic sources, the Tehran administration informed mediators that it would restrict ship passage and impose certain fees during the ceasefire process. Iran also categorically denied allegations that it would transfer enriched uranium to the United States.

Another development regarding the negotiations has emerged from Tehran. According to information based on sources close to Iran, the Iranian government has not yet reached an agreement with the US on the next planned round of talks.

*This is not investment advice.

On-chain investigator ZachXBT is offering a $25,000 bounty for information related to alleged irregularities in $RAVE, the native utility and governance token of RaveDAO, a web3 entertainment project that links music festivals with blockchain-based community participation.

In a statement on X on Saturday, ZachXBT alleged the project is tied to a pump-and-dump scheme, with insiders controlling the majority of supply. The blockchain sleuth urged crypto exchanges Binance, Bitget, and Gate.io to review the activity and take action.

Pump and dump activity for $RAVE originated on @bitget @binance @Gate

Call to action for both @heyibinance @GracyBitget to do better and launch internal investigation offboarding the responsible actors.

Offering up to $10K bounty of my personal funds for whistleblowers to… pic.twitter.com/NhZDubdU9R

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 18, 2026

Update: I am increasing the $RAVE bounty to $25K due to contributions from other community members.

Keep applying pressure to exchanges so they address the market manipulation. pic.twitter.com/UChKYuZvYK

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 18, 2026

ZachXBT said he expects exchanges to conduct internal reviews and publish transparent findings on those responsible. He noted that crime-associated tokens harm the industry’s credibility.

Responding to ZachXBT’s call, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the team had initiated an investigation into the token.

Price action

$RAVE trended sharply higher over the month. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the token ballooned from $0.25 to $18 between April 1 and April 15 before easing and later resurging.

During the first rally, the project’s official account posted a muted warning during the volatility, encouraging users to “remain mindful of the associated risks” and exercise caution with leverage.

In the past week, $RAVE rallied 1,200%, rising from $2.1 to approximately $28.

At one point on Saturday, the token’s market capitalization reached as high as $6.7 billion, briefly surpassing Litecoin (LTC) and Avalanche (AVAX) in the rankings.

Following ZachXBT’s statements, $RAVE crashed 24% to under $13.

Project’s background

Founded in late 2023, RaveDAO has grown from a small 200-person crypto afterparty and to an initiative linking live music events with blockchain-based participation.

The project’s MiCAR White Paper lists Wildwood Xu as its director and Ronald Yung as one of the key leaders.

Some members of the crypto community have pointed to possible links between RaveDAO and ZX Capital and individuals associated with Bella Protocol. These claims remain unverified.

The project reports tens of thousands of community members and over 70,000 NFT tickets issued on-chain, alongside more than 100,000 total participants across 20-plus events in cities including Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, and Hong Kong. Its events feature major electronic music artists and use a proof-of-attendance model to track engagement and rewards.

RaveDAO also operates “Rave for Light,” a charitable program allocating a portion of event proceeds to social initiatives. In 2025, it funded cataract surgery in Nepal and supported education-focused programs through Nalanda West.

Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto’s problems just keep mounting.

Already under fire following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company on Friday drew the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told parliament the company had sponsored some politicians who opposed crypto market regulation.

Blocking the legislation by some politicians showed they were toeing Zondacrypto’s line, Tusk said before a vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the law, according to a report by AP. The exchange has links to Russia and had previously provided the lawmakers with financial support, he said.

Tusk’s comments came a day after Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral turned to X to defuse allegations the company was helping itself to investors’ funds to bulk up its declining reserves.

In a statement and video published on the platform, Kral said the exchange had sufficient reserves, and owns a bitcoin wallet holding about 4,500 BTC, about $330 million. There is a problem, though: It can’t access the funds because the previous owner didn’t hand over the private key and has now disappeared.

Delayed withdrawals

Kral said he revealed the wallet address to “cut short the unfounded accusations of alleged misappropriation of funds.” The key was not handed over by former CEO Sylwester Suszek in 2021, when ownership of the exchange, then known as BitBay, transferred and Kral took over. Suszek has been missing for four years.

Zondacrypto has faced reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news reports. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and said the exchange remains profitable. He publicized the inaccessible wallet to prove the exchange has reserves, he said.

Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, according to an AI translation of his Polish video. He pointed to supposed political pressure, regulatory interference and coordinated media coverage that contributed to a surge in withdrawal requests.

Analysis conducted by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris and cited by local news outlets found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. At one point, Kral threatened legal action against Polish news outlets covering the situation.

The furor revives the long-running controversy surrounding the company.

Polish investigative reporting, led by broadcaster TVN, in 2024 identified shareholder Marek K., who held a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a 1995 gangland murder and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud.

In 2019, Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) placed BitBay on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.

In January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Poland’s consumer protection agency, started an investigation — still in progress — into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda’s owner, for “violating the collective interests of consumers,” Fakt reported earlier this month.

“Fundamental error”

In an April 6 post on X, Kral said reports of the reported decline in reserves stemmed from a “fundamental analytical error” by focusing solely on hot wallets. At the time, Zonda stood as a “stable, solvent, and secure entity.”

As for withdrawal delays, he said that at one point the platform processed tens of thousands of requests in a short period, far above normal levels. That, plus “the implementation of new, advanced security and transaction monitoring systems,” forced manual withdrawal verifications.

The wallet presented as proof of reserves following customer demand has seen little recent activity. Onchain data shows no outgoing movements whatsoever, and a total of 32 receiving transactions.

As for the veto vote, 191 MPs voted in favor of Nawrocki’s veto and 243 against it, 20 mandates too few to overturn the block, TVP World reported.

Crypto’s next major inflection point is coming from artificial intelligence (AI).

That’s according to Consensys CEO and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. He told CoinDesk that autonomous or semi-autonomous agents can transact, coordinate and verify one another on decentralized networks, using crypto rails as a foundation for machine-driven activity.

Lubin, who will be speaking at Consensus Miami 2026 next month, said he is “sympathetic to the idea that blockchain is for machine intelligences,” but does not see humans being displaced. Instead, increasingly intelligent interfaces will abstract away complexity, allowing users to interact with crypto systems through intent rather than manual inputs. In that model, AI becomes the intermediary layer between people and protocols.

That vision comes with risks. If AI infrastructure remains concentrated among large technology firms, “we could be in trouble,” Lubin warned. He argued that decentralized systems and cryptography will be essential in ensuring accountability, enabling machines to “check on one another” in transparent, verifiable environments.

Within that broader shift, products like MetaMask — a Consensys product — are evolving to reflect the change. Lubin said the wallet is being rebuilt as “a new kind of neobank that you own and control,” part of a transition toward what he described as a “personal money operating system.” AI-powered agents could act on behalf of users, managing assets, executing transactions and navigating a growing decentralized economy. “You can walk around with your personal financial system in your pocket,” he said.

The rise of corporate chains on Ethereum

Beyond interfaces, Lubin pointed to structural changes across the Ethereum ecosystem. The architecture of the blockchain is also shaping how institutions approach adoption. Lubin expects “corporate chains” to become more common as companies seek higher throughput and greater control over their infrastructure. Still, he argued that assets are best issued on Ethereum’s base layer, saying “the best way to ensure that an asset is durable… is to mint it on Ethereum layer one,” even if the asset is later used across other networks.

Stablecoins, one of crypto’s fastest-growing sectors, are part of that transition, but not the endpoint. Lubin described them as a “stepping stone” toward more fully decentralized financial systems, noting that current models remain heavily reliant on centralized issuers. Over time, he expects growth in decentralized collateral to enable more robust, crypto-native forms of money.

On tokenization more broadly, Lubin suggested that traditional finance and decentralized finance are entering a period of convergence, combining centuries of financial innovation with newer blockchain-based systems. The result, he said, will be a more granular and programmable global economy.

Even as these shifts accelerate, Lubin struck a measured tone on longer-term technical risks like quantum computing. While not an immediate concern, he said Ethereum developers have been preparing for years.

“A lot of us just see it as being folded into the natural evolution of Ethereum,” Lubin said.

Read more: Joe Lubin claims DeFi is as safe as traditional finance, adding that bitcoin is in crisis

Wrapped $XRP went live on Solana on Friday, issued by custodian Hex Trust and bridged through LayerZero, making the token available inside Solana’s DeFi apps for the first time.

$XRP holders can now use the wrapped asset on Jupiter, Phantom, Titan Exchange, and Meteora without selling their underlying position.

Each wXRP is backed 1:1 by native $XRP held in segregated custody accounts and is redeemable at any time, according to Hex Trust.

The Solana launch is one leg of a broader rollout Hex Trust disclosed in December 2025, which also targets Ethereum, Optimism, and HyperEVM. The move fits a pattern that has accelerated through 2025 and 2026, where tokens that started their life on one chain are being bridged to others to capture yield and liquidity that did not exist at launch.

$XRP has historically functioned as a payment-rail token settled directly on the $XRP Ledger. Solana has built the opposite use case, a throughput-optimized smart contract platform where the DeFi and memecoin activity actually lives.

The piece of infrastructure underneath this deal is LayerZero, the cross-chain messaging protocol that has quietly won most of the bridge volume that used to flow through Wormhole, Nomad, and Ronin before those protocols were exploited for more than $1 billion combined between 2022 and 2024.

Whether $XRP generates meaningful DeFi volume on Solana is a separate question. The wrapped asset is live, but the test is whether holders actually use it.