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GM!
Today’s most important news:
- Major cryptocurrencies are slightly green despite rising oil prices; Bitcoin at $78.3 thousand
- BTC ETFs continue their green streak with another $223 million in net inflows
- Soldier arrested for making $400,000 at Polemarket while trading Maduro raid
- Tether implements its largest freeze ever affecting $344 million on Tron
- MegaETH confirms TGE on April 30; Mega -15%
🚩Soldier arrested over $400,000 bet from Polymarket on Maduro raid
Ministry of Justice announced Thursday Army Staff Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, has been arrested and charged with using classified military information to profit from Polymarket.
Van Dijk participated in Operation Absolute Resolve, the January 3 raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and placed 13 bets on the platform between December 26 and January 2 using a VPN to hide his location.
He bet nearly $33,000 across contracts related to whether Maduro would be impeached, whether U.S. forces would invade Venezuela, and related outcomes. When the operation was successful, he walked away with gains of more than $409,000 and immediately transferred most of the proceeds to a foreign cryptocurrency wallet before depositing the rest into a newly created brokerage account.
The Department of Justice charged Van Dyke with unlawful use of classified government information, theft of government information, commodity fraud, wire fraud, and conducting an illegal cash transaction. The CFTC filed a parallel civil complaint on the same day. Polymarket said it independently identified the account, referred the matter to the Department of Justice, and cooperated fully with the investigation.
Trump was asked about the arrest on Thursday. He said: “Unfortunately, the whole world has become like a casino… I wasn’t much for it at all. I don’t like it in theory.”
Unfortunately, Trump may be right…
🥶 Tether freezes $344 million USDT – its largest enforcement action ever
pregnancy announced Thursday It froze $344 million in USDT across two wallets on the Tron blockchain based on requests from US law enforcement. One portfolio contains $212.9 million, the other $131.3 million.
The freeze was coordinated with OFAC and several US agencies after the addresses were flagged for suspected sanctions evasion and criminal network activity. Tether moved to restrict assets before funds could be transferred further. The company did not identify the owners of the wallet or determine the nature of the underlying criminal activity.
This action is the largest implementation freeze in Tether’s history. To date, Tether has worked with more than 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries and has frozen a total of $4.4 billion in assets, including $2.1 billion linked to US agencies. CEO Paolo Arduino: “USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activities. When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively. Recent events have shown what happens when platforms fail to act quickly.
This last line is a direct reference to the circuit. During the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit earlier this month, $230 million worth of USDC was transferred via Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol during business hours in the US. Circle declined to freeze the funds, citing no formal law enforcement request or OFAC designation at the time. By contrast, Tether contributed $127.5 million to Drift’s recovery plan. Tether is certainly doing its part to separate itself from Circle…
⚖️ SBF drops new trial bid, says he won’t get a fair trial
Sam Bankman Fried Submit a letter Withdrew his Rule 33 motion for a new trial.
The withdrawal was without prejudice, meaning he can refile once his pending appeal in the Second Circuit is resolved.
He stated the reason directly to Judge Lewis Kaplan: “I don’t think I’m going to get a fair hearing on this matter before you.”
His mother, attorney Barbara Freed, filed the application in February on his behalf, prompting Judge Kaplan to issue an order clarifying who actually wrote it. SBF confirmed in a letter Thursday that he conceived the arguments, drafted multiple versions, and did most of the legal research himself while in prison, with his parents making editorial suggestions and the New York attorney providing limited input.
His appeal in the Second Circuit, alleging the trial was “fundamentally unfair,” remains outstanding, as does his request for reappointment away from Kaplan, whom he accused of “extreme bias.” He is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for seven counts of fraud and conspiracy linked to the collapse of FTX in 2022.
🤖 Meta is cutting 8,000 jobs to pay for AI spending
dead announced Thursday It will lay off nearly 8,000 employees, about 10% of its total workforce, effective May 20.
An internal memo stated the reason: “We are doing this as part of our ongoing efforts to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset other investments we make.”
Those other investments are artificial intelligence. Meta spent $72 billion on capital expenditures in 2025, and that number is expected to rise to between $115 billion and $135 billion in 2026, driven primarily by Meta Superintelligence Labs and data center construction.
Middle management and non-engineering roles are expected to take the biggest hit. Meta also closed 6,000 open positions that will no longer be filled.
This comes after Zuckerberg commented on the January earnings call that 2026 would be “the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way we work,” and it’s clearly starting to make its impact.
🌎 Total crypto and markets
- Cryptocurrency majors are a bit green; Bitcoin +1% at $78.3K; Ethereum+1 at $2,330; SOL +1% at $86; HYPE even at $41.10
- Stable (+14%), ZEC (+12%) and ALGO (+6%) led the top movers
- oil +3% at $97; Gold -0.4% at $4,680
- Stock futures Mixed with red Dow Jones but Nasdaq +1% in pre-market despite oil prices rising all week
- wisconsin 5 prediction markets sued (Kalshi, Coinbase, Polymarket, Robinhood, Cryptocom) Claim to Act as Unlicensed Gambling Versus Financial Platforms
- Pavel Durov (Founder of Telegram) Announce TON will reduce its transaction fees by 6x, and soon there will be no fees on most transactions at all
Corporate Treasuries and ETFs
Meme Coin Tracker
- Meme leaders He was Green a day. Doji +3%, Shape +2%, Baby +3%, Trump +1%, Bonk +2%, Bingo +4%, SPX +5%, Vartcoin +3%
- CR7 (+38x to $15 million), Eloncoin (+105x), Zerebro (+30%), and Buttcoin (+20%) led the notable movers
- AIB (America is back) Soared 70,000% to $5 million on ETH
💰 Token tracking, airdrop and protocol
🚚 What happens in NFTs?
- NFT leaders It was mostly flat. BANK +1% at 29ETH, BAYC +1% at 8.74 ETH, Pudgy -1.5% at 4.62 ETH; Hypurr’s -3% at 375 HYPE
- Good Vibes Club (+9%) and Azuki (+16%) were the leading movers
- Lucy skulls Sold for $375,000 With accompanying mask (second major sale this week)
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