Pepe sees major shifts

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Pepe witnesses a massive accumulation from whale accounts

Key points:

• Recently, whales have acquired billions of Pepe tokens.

• The token experienced a six-day consecutive uptrend before a decline on 24 April interrupted the streak.

News - According to the data, a whale recently purchased 211.6 billion Pepe tokens, valued at approximately $1.6 billion at the time of purchase. This significant acquisition led to a notable price surge of over 15% for PEPE. The data further reveals that the whale acquired these tokens from centralized and decentralized exchanges, with Binance, Gate, and Uniswap among the platforms involved.

Also, whale transactions appear to have picked up after the Bitcoin halving.

What the key metrics are saying?

• According to Santiment's data, large transactions surpassing $100,000 have consistently increased since the Bitcoin halving. Additionally, following an initial spike, the supply of PEPE on exchanges started to decline, indicating that investors were inclined to HODL the meme coin.

• A surge in speculative interest for PEPE accompanied the price rally. The Open Interest (OI), representing the money invested in unsettled PEPE futures contracts, more than doubled in the last four days to reach $90 million.

• The price surge also propelled PEPE's social activity. Mentions of the coin in top crypto-focused social channels reached a three-week high on 23 April. Furthermore, most social commentary was positive, as indicated by the positive Weighted Sentiment indicator.

U.S. DOJ arrests Samourai Wallet Mixer co-founders

Key points:

• The co-founders of the crypto mixer were arrested on charges related to Anti-money Laundering and licensing violations.

• The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the crypto mixer facilitated approximately $2 billion in unlawful transactions.

News - Samourai Wallet CEO Keonne Rodriguez and Chief Technology Officer William Hill have been each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Rodriguez was arrested on the morning of 24 April in Pennsylvania, while Hill was arrested the same day in Portugal.

The DOJ provides more details -  

• They allege that Samourai unlawfully combined various unique features to facilitate anonymous customer financial transactions. 

• Despite marketing Samourai as a 'privacy' service, the defendants were reportedly aware that it served as a haven for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion.

• The DOJ asserts that Hill and Rodriguez had the intention and knowledge that a significant portion of the funds processed by Samourai were criminal proceeds used for concealment.

• Samourai Wallet offered services such as the Whirlpool crypto mixing service and Ricochet service, which created additional and unnecessary transactions to obscure users' crypto paths.

• It's alleged that the defendants made $4.5 million from fees associated with these activities.

Hedera Hashgraph rollercoaster: From surge to slump as BlackRock denies tokenization

Key points:

• Blackrock has issued a statement clarifying that it has no commercial relationship with Hedera.

• The Hedera token experienced a surge of over 100% amidst the confusion surrounding Blackrock's alleged involvement.

News - BlackRock has officially confirmed that it did not select Hedera Hashgraph to tokenize any of its funds, including shares of its $22 billion money market fund. This clarification was issued in response to an announcement by the HBAR Foundation on X, which stated that blockchain firms Archax and Ownera had tokenized BlackRock's ICS U.S. Treasury Fund on Hedera.

Some misinterpretations of the post led to the belief that BlackRock was actively involved in the tokenization effort, prompting the need for clarification.

Archax and Ownera give further clarification - Graham Rodford, co-founder and CEO of Archax, clarified on X that Archax, not BlackRock, decided to tokenize on Hedera. Although BlackRock did not choose Hedera for tokenization, Rodford stated that BlackRock was aware of Archax's decision and agreed with the wording of the press release.

How Hedera reacted during and after the news - The price chart indicated that before the announcement, Hedera was trading at around $0.09 but surged to $0.15 afterward, representing an increase of over 75% by the end of 23 August. However, following the clarification regarding the Hedera-BlackRock relationship, the price experienced a decline of over 20% on 24 April, with HBAR trading at $0.12.

Additionally, volume metrics revealed that Hedera witnessed its highest trading volume on 24 April, reaching $3.5 billion. Interestingly, this surge in volume coincided with the price dip.

Canada's institutional crypto investment surges, fueled by ETF approvals

Key points:

• Canada's investment sector has re-embraced crypto.

• Half of the institutional investors surveyed have crypto-asset exposure through Canadian ETFs.

News - Despite a turbulent year in Canada, which saw some crypto exchanges like Binance halt operations, crypto exposure has notably increased. According to a report from accounting firm KPMG, institutional investors based in Canada significantly raised their crypto exposure last year compared to the previous bull run.

The study reveals that nearly 40% of institutional investors reported having direct or indirect exposure to crypto assets in 2023, up from 31% in KPMG's 2021 study. 

Additionally, the survey found that one-third of institutional investors have allocated 10% or more of their portfolios to crypto assets, a significant increase from a fifth two years ago.

What gave Canada the edge - According to the KPMG report, Canada's landmark approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in February 2021 was pivotal in attracting local investors to the asset class.

Most investors highlighted the maturing market and improved custody infrastructure as key factors driving their investment in crypto assets. Furthermore, financial firms expanded their offerings in response to increased client demand for crypto asset services.

It is not all rosy -  The report also highlighted a significant pullback in certain areas. Specifically, wealth management experienced a notable decline, with only 14% of firms offering financial advice for crypto to their clients, down from 42% in 2021.

Additionally, there was a slight decrease in venture capital or hedge fund firms, dropping to 25% from 29% in 2021. 

More stories from the crypto ecosystem

1. XRP whales stock up on 600M tokens – Here’s what you should do!

2. MATIC prices set for a U-turn? Analyst points to key buy signal

3. Bitcoin mining: Time for miners to shift focus post-halving?

4. Solana and its FTX ghost – Are NFT sales doing the trick?

5. Dogecoin price prediction – Here’s where DOGE’s next buy opportunity is

Did you know?

• Over the past few years, the number of cryptocurrency and blockchain wallet owners has experienced a remarkable surge. As reported by Statista, the count of blockchain wallet owners exceeded 81 million by 2022.

• Each year, May 22 commemorates the anniversary of the first Bitcoin transaction, where a Florida man famously used 10,000 Bitcoin to purchase two pizzas. As of 25 April, the value of those Bitcoin surged to over $640 million.

• In August 2018, the World Bank introduced bond-i, marking the world's inaugural global bond leveraging blockchain technology. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia facilitated this groundbreaking blockchain bond issuance, initially raising A$110 million. A subsequent offering, known as the second tranche, raised an additional $50 million.

Top 3 coins of the day

Binance Coin (BNB)

Key points:

• BNB was trading at around $608, at press time.

• It had the highest increase in the last seven days among the top five assets.

What you should know - In the last 24 hours, the crypto market has experienced a decline, with several assets in the top five seeing drops of up to 8%. However, Binance Coin (BNB) was an exception, with its decline remaining under 2% during this period. Analysis of the chart revealed a seven-day consecutive uptrend for BNB, beginning on 18 April and continuing until 24 April. During this period, its price surged from $552 to over $600. Additionally, the price range tool indicated that BNB increased by over 10% from 18 April to the time of writing.

Bonk (BONK)

Key points:

• Bonk has grown by over 70% in the past seven days.

• The spike in price has been occasioned by small declines.

What you should know - This week, the value of Bonk experienced a significant surge. Analysis of the daily timeframe chart revealed that on 20 April, BONK saw a remarkable increase of over 32%. Following a brief pause, another surge of 22.5% occurred on 22 April, continuing into 23 April. These spikes in value propelled its Relative Strength Index (RSI) above the neutral line. As of the press time, the RSI stood at 60, indicating that BONK was in a strong bull trend. Additionally, while there was a slight calm in the trend at the time of writing, BONK was trading with an increase of over 1.7%.

Tron (TRX)

Key points:

• TRX was the highest gainer in the last 24 hours.

• After falling a few days ago, TRX’s volume was back above $200 million.

What you should know - Tron has been experiencing a series of consecutive uptrends for the past six days, with the current trend marking the seventh consecutive uptrend. As of press time, it was trading at around $0.11, reflecting an increase of over 1.8%. On the daily chart, TRX managed to surpass its long Moving Average (blue line), indicating a more positive trend in price movement. However, despite the current uptrend, the overall momentum was still bearish. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stood below the neutral line, signaling a bearish trend.