Friday is a great time to open Hodl FM at the end of the workday, when your boss isn’t watching your screen too closely, and go through the latest news you might have missed.
As usual, let’s start with the losers and winners. Surprisingly, Trump’s coin is on top, while the president is taking a hit. Meanwhile, gold-backed stablecoins have slipped a bit this week, following the drop in gold prices.
Top Gainers of the Week
- OFFICIAL TRUMP surging by 69.74%, TRUMP reached a price of $12.74.
- Sui gaining 68.49% over the week, SUI now trades at $3.54.
- Stacks сlimbing 53.88%, STX hit $0.9057.
Top Losers of the Week
- DeXe led the decline this week, dropping 1.61% to a price of $13.50.
- PAX Gold, the gold-backed stablecoin saw a slight dip of 0.79%.
- Tether Gold, also backed by physical gold, declined by 0.54%.
SEC Launches First Crypto Investigation Under New Chairman Paul Atkins
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against PGI Global CEO Ramil Palafox accusing him of orchestrating a large-scale cryptocurrency scam.
From January 2020 to October 2021, Palafox offered “membership packages” promising returns of up to 200%. These returns were supposedly powered by an AI-based crypto and forex trading platform. However, SEC investigators say no trading took place. Instead, investor money was used to maintain a payout system and support Palafox’s extravagant personal expenses.
Of the $198 million raised, approximately $57 million was used for homes, high-end vehicles, and luxury jewelry. PGI Global was dissolved in the UK in 2022 over fraudulent activity, and the company’s website has been taken offline in the U.S. This marks the SEC’s first crypto case under the leadership of Paul Atkins.
The case also names Palafox’s family members, who allegedly hold assets tied to the scheme, including valuable real estate and personal items. The SEC is asking for full refund and a ban on the defendants’ involvement in any future investment activities.
Abimbola Adu
Jeremy Cahen: How to Not Pay a Court Order 9 Million
To ridicule the court's decision, transfer money from accounts the day before the freeze and refuse to pay any part of the court's decision from the 9 million debt - was that possible, you ask. Yes, it's possible, says Jeremy Cahen, crypto influencer who got himself caught up in a rather messy situation with Yuga Labs. Here's the story, step by step.
Yuga Labs, the creators behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, accused Cahen (also known as Pauly0x) of dodging a nearly $9 million court order, this includes $1.5 million in damages for selling parody NFTs created in collaboration with artist Ryder Ripps, as well as $7 million in legal fees.
Let’s explain the parody NFTs part:
In May 2022, Ripps and Cahen launched the RR/BAYC project, where they sold NFTs for 0.1 ETH that were visually identical to the original Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. But these were new mints, not just copies. The project was marketed as “appropriation art”, a form of artistic protest against what the creators claimed were racist and Nazi-like references in the original BAYC collection.
According to Yuga, Cahen has been blatantly ignoring the court order: not only did he fail to pay a dime, but he also transferred $396,946 in cryptocurrency immediately after his Gemini accounts were frozen.
The company, in response, is demanding confiscation of his assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and PEPE, spread across four wallets. Cahen, for his part, claims he has no obligation to disclose anything, saying he is appealing. Meanwhile, his record outside the courtroom is not the smoothest: he is wanted in Puerto Rico for assault, and his latest project, a DEX called Pond0X, has been criticized as a potential scam.
A decision on Yuga Labs' request is still pending.
Kataryna Habeliia
Cantor, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex Prepare $3 Billion Bitcoin Deal
Cantor Fitzgerald, one of Wall Street's oldest investment players, unites with crypto giants Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank to create 21 Capital, a new company focused on investing in Bitcoin. The project will be led by Brandon Lutnick, the son of Cantor's CEO and current U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick.
Key details of the deal:
- A $3 billion joint investment in Bitcoin:
- $1.5 billion from Tether
- $900 million from SoftBank
- $600 million from Bitfinex
- Investments will be converted into shares of 21 Capital at a price of $10 per share, equivalent to $85,000 per Bitcoin.
- The deal will be structured through Cantor Equity Partners (SPAC), which previously raised $200 million.
The idea behind the project is to create a public company that will serve as a “Bitcoin alternative to MicroStrategy” and capitalize on the growing institutional interest in BTC.
Cantor has also announced a joint $2 billion credit program with Tether and has recently partnered with Anchorage Digital and Copper for crypto services.
The focus on Bitcoin aligns with the more favorable stance of the Trump administration towards the crypto market and could mark a turning point in Wall Street’s growing interest in digital assets.
The Miner Wars game by GoMining has Received a Major Update
You might be wondering why this is important. Well, GoMining claims to "demystify" mining and engage a broader audience in the industry. Since its launch in September, GoMining reports that over 165,000 players have earned a total of more than 144 BTC in rewards.
The project is a hybrid between GameFi and real Bitcoin mining: users purchase NFT miners, which represent real computational power, and participate in the distribution of Bitcoin mining rewards.
GoMining representatives said that the project makes the complex mining process accessible and understandable to a wide audience. Their large infrastructure support a computational power of 7.5 million terahashes and a user base of over 3.5 million people.
To put it in perspective, 7.5 million Th/s is like 7.5 million groups of 1 million people each trying to solve puzzles at the same time. Impressive, right?
The latest update includes the addition of welcome packages and introduces clan leagues. Now, players can team up and compete in various divisions based on their activity and performance levels.
Users can upgrade their NFTs, increasing their reward potential, and participate in competitive game sessions, with 120 to 150 taking place daily. NFT miners are issued on the Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and TON blockchains, and can be traded on the GoMining platform as well as on third-party marketplaces.
Kataryna Habeliia
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