$6B token under manipulation fire

April 20, 2026

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Corporate crypto buying spree builds: ETH nears 5% supply as Bitcoin giant doubles down

Key points:

  • Bitmine bought 101,627 ETH last week, pushing its holdings to nearly 5 million ETH, over 4% of total supply.

  • Strategy added 34,164 BTC worth $2.54B, marking its third-largest Bitcoin purchase and taking holdings past 815,000 BTC.

News - Corporate crypto accumulation accelerated last week as major treasury players expanded positions across both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Bitmine Immersion Technologies acquired 101,627 ETH between April 13 and April 19, bringing its total to 4.97 million ETH, valued at around $11.5B. The firm now controls over 4% of Ether’s circulating supply and is moving closer to its long-term goal of reaching 5%.

At the same time, Strategy made its largest Bitcoin purchase since late 2024, buying 34,164 BTC for $2.54B at an average price of $74,395. The move lifted its total holdings to 815,061 BTC, reinforcing its position as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

Bitmine’s total crypto and cash holdings stand at $12.9B, with over 3.3 million ETH staked, generating more than $200M in annualized revenue. Meanwhile, Strategy continues to fund its aggressive accumulation through capital programs, including its dividend-paying STRC preferred shares.

Ethereum demand tightens supply - Bitmine remains one of the few large-scale buyers actively accumulating Ether despite recent market volatility. Its continued purchases, combined with large-scale staking, are tightening Ether’s liquid supply while underscoring the scale of institutional-focused accumulation. The firm has increased its buying pace for four consecutive weeks, signaling confidence that the recent market slowdown may be nearing its end.

Bitcoin’s supply dynamics shift - Strategy’s latest acquisition absorbed more than 34,000 BTC in a single week, equivalent to over two months of miner output. Such consistent buying has the potential to tighten available supply, particularly when Bitcoin is trading near key price levels. However, broader market forces, including ETF flows and macro conditions, continue to influence how strongly these purchases impact price.

ZachXBT sounds alarm on $6B MemeCore token amid manipulation concerns

Key points:

  • ZachXBT questioned MemeCore’s $6B valuation, citing supply concentration and weak supporting metrics.

  • The probe follows the RAVE token collapse, where similar patterns preceded a 90%+ crash.

News - On-chain investigator ZachXBT has intensified scrutiny on MemeCore’s M token, challenging the project to justify its multibillion-dollar valuation and explain claims of insider-heavy supply. He called for any concrete data supporting a roughly $6B market cap, while critics pointed to the token’s relatively modest app-level volume.

Valuation metrics remain inconsistent across trackers, ranging from about $4.33B to nearly $6B, while the token is tied to roughly $66M in app-level volume. The gap between market cap and usage has become a central concern in the ongoing probe.

Blockchain data also highlights concentrated holdings. A Binance deposit address controls over 40% of supply, while another wallet holds more than 20%, raising questions about circulating liquidity. Although claims that insiders hold over 90% of the supply remain unverified, the distribution pattern continues to draw scrutiny.

Exchange links and liquidity concerns - ZachXBT expanded the probe to include exchange flows, naming Kraken, Binance, and Bitget as key venues linked to token movement tied to listings or liquidity provisioning. He urged platforms to take stronger action against suspected manipulation, though no wrongdoing has been confirmed.

RAVE collapse sets the backdrop - The renewed focus follows the sharp decline of the RAVE token, which plunged more than 90% after a rapid surge. ZachXBT pointed to concentrated ownership and unusual exchange flows as warning signs, while flagging similar patterns across tokens like M, SIREN, RIVER, MYX, COAI, and PIPPIN.

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$292M KelpDAO exploit triggers DeFi shock as liquidity crisis spreads across Aave

Key points:

  • A $292M exploit drained 116,500 rsETH from KelpDAO, leaving roughly $195M in bad debt on Aave.

  • The fallout sparked a liquidity crunch, with over $6B exiting Aave and ~$300M in emergency borrowing by trapped users.

News - A major exploit targeting KelpDAO’s cross-chain bridge has sent shockwaves through the DeFi ecosystem, exposing structural risks across lending protocols. Attackers drained 116,500 rsETH, worth roughly $292M, by manipulating the bridge’s verification system and minting unbacked tokens, which were then used as collateral on Aave to borrow real assets.

The breach has been preliminarily linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, according to LayerZero, though attribution remains under review by other analysts. The incident stemmed from KelpDAO’s reliance on a single-verifier setup, which LayerZero said left the bridge vulnerable to a forged cross-chain message.

The immediate fallout has been severe. Aave’s total value locked dropped sharply, with billions withdrawn in hours, while the protocol was left carrying nearly $195M in bad debt tied to the exploit. Broader DeFi TVL also declined by more than $13B as fallout spread across the sector.

Liquidity crunch traps users - With major pools hitting 100% utilization, many depositors found themselves unable to withdraw funds. Instead, users borrowed against their own locked assets, driving a roughly $300M spike in borrowing activity. This surge reflected forced liquidity access rather than genuine demand, as participants exited positions at losses to retrieve capital.

Structural risks come into focus - The exploit has intensified scrutiny on liquid restaking tokens like rsETH, which had been widely treated as near-ETH collateral. The incident also reignited debate over responsibility, with questions raised around whether losses should be absorbed by KelpDAO, LayerZero, Aave, or affected users.

Vercel breach sparks crypto security fears after AI-linked attack

Key points:

  • Vercel confirmed a breach exposing a limited set of customer credentials via a compromised AI tool.

  • The incident has triggered urgent action across crypto projects, as many Web3 frontends rely on Vercel for wallet interfaces.

News - Cloud infrastructure provider Vercel has disclosed a security incident involving unauthorized access to internal systems, leading to the exposure of a limited subset of customer credentials. The breach was traced to a compromised third-party AI tool, Context.ai, which allowed attackers to take over an employee’s Google Workspace account and escalate access into Vercel’s environment.

The company described the attackers as highly sophisticated, with CEO Guillermo Rauch suggesting the operation may have been accelerated by AI tools. While Vercel said environment variables marked as sensitive were stored in a way that prevents them from being read, attackers were able to access certain non-sensitive configurations, raising concerns over potential misuse of exposed credentials such as API keys.

The breach has drawn particular attention in crypto circles, where many projects rely on Vercel-hosted frontends to power wallet connections and trading interfaces. Crypto teams have since rotated credentials and reviewed deployments as a precaution, while Orca said its on-chain protocol and user funds were not affected.

Supply chain risk comes into focus - Security experts warn that incidents like this highlight the growing risks tied to third-party integrations and developer tooling. Even when backend systems remain secure, compromised frontend infrastructure can expose users to threats such as wallet drainers embedded in trusted interfaces.

Industry on alert - The incident has prompted calls for stricter security practices, including credential rotation, tighter access controls, and reduced reliance on single points of failure. With attackers increasingly targeting infrastructure layers, the event underscores how vulnerabilities outside smart contracts can still carry significant risk for crypto users.

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Did you know?

  • The SEC’s official account was hacked to fake a Bitcoin ETF approval: In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account was compromised, falsely announcing ETF approval and briefly shaking markets before being corrected.

  • MakerDAO’s “Endgame” plan set the stage for its Sky rebrand: MakerDAO approved its “Endgame” overhaul in 2023, which later led to the 2024 rollout of the Sky brand, new tokens, and a major ecosystem restructuring.

  • Bitcoin briefly paid miners more in fees than block rewards: In December 2023, transaction fees on Bitcoin surged due to Ordinals activity, briefly exceeding miner block rewards and marking a rare shift in network economics.

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Top 3 coins of the day

Sky (SKY)

Key points:

  • SKY climbed toward $0.080 after rebounding from the $0.072–$0.073 range, with price now pressing against a key resistance zone near $0.081.

  • The Parabolic SAR flipped below the candles while the MACD printed a fresh bullish crossover, signaling improving upside momentum.

What you should know:

SKY gradually recovered from its mid-range dip and pushed higher, with the latest candles testing the $0.080–$0.081 resistance zone. The move aligned with a shift in momentum, as the MACD turned positive and the Parabolic SAR remained supportive beneath the price. Volume also ticked higher on the recent push, suggesting steady participation rather than a one-off spike. The rally appeared to coincide with defensive capital rotation after the $292M KelpDAO bridge exploit, as Sky paused cross-chain activity and attracted risk-off flows within DeFi. If buyers hold above $0.075, the structure stays intact, while rejection near $0.081 could lead to a pullback toward $0.072.

Mantle (MNT)

Key points:

  • MNT dipped toward the $0.62 level before attempting a mild rebound, though price remained below the downward-sloping 9 SMA.

  • The EWO stayed in negative territory while volume spiked during the sell-off, highlighting sustained bearish pressure despite the recent bounce.

What you should know:

Mantle fell sharply from the $0.68–$0.69 range and briefly tested the $0.62 zone before showing signs of a short-term recovery. The move aligned with broader DeFi weakness following the $292M KelpDAO bridge exploit, which triggered risk-off sentiment across the market. While the latest candle turned green, price continued to trade under the 9 SMA, indicating that upside momentum remains limited for now. The EWO also stayed below zero, suggesting bearish momentum has not fully faded. A reclaim of $0.66 could signal stabilization, while losing $0.62 may expose the $0.60 level if selling pressure returns.

Ethereum (ETH)

Key points:

  • ETH retreated from the $2,440 region and slipped below both the 20 and 50 MA, despite the broader bullish crossover still holding.

  • The EWO flipped negative as recent candles turned mixed, indicating fading momentum after the prior rally.

What you should know:

ETH pulled back from its recent highs near $2,440 and dropped toward the $2,270–$2,280 range before attempting a modest rebound to around $2,310. The decline followed renewed stress across Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem after the $292M KelpDAO bridge exploit, which triggered large outflows and weakened sentiment. Despite the 20 MA remaining above the 50 MA, price moved below both averages, signaling a loss of near-term strength. The EWO also stayed in negative territory, reflecting cooling momentum after the earlier uptrend. A recovery above $2,340 could restore bullish traction, while losing $2,270 may open the door toward the $2,200 zone if selling pressure persists.

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