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Top Stories of The Week
Shaquille O’Neal gets judge’s greenlight for $11M Astrals NFT settlement
Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has been granted final court approval to settle a class-action lawsuit for $11 million with Astrals non-fungible token (NFT) buyers.
Florida federal court judge Federico Moreno granted approval of the settlement between O’Neal and the class group led by Daniel Harper in an April 1 order made available on April 8.
The deal created a fund of up to $11 million for eligible class members and awarded $2.9 million in attorney fees and costs. All those who purchased Astrals NFTs from May 2022 to Jan. 15 and those who purchased the project’s native GLXY tokens up until mid-January are eligible.
“The fee sought by lead class counsel has been reviewed and approved as fair and reasonable by plaintiffs,” Moreno’s order read.
New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments
A New York lawmaker has introduced legislation that would allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments, signaling growing political momentum for digital asset integration in public services.
Assembly Bill A7788, introduced by Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, seeks to amend state financial law to allow New York state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
It would permit state agencies to accept payments in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, according to the bill’s text.
Synthetix USD stablecoin loses dollar peg, drops to 5-year low of $0.83
The Synthetix protocol’s native stablecoin, Synthetix USD (sUSD), fell to its lowest value in five years, extending a months-long struggle to maintain its $1 peg.
The asset has faced persistent instability since the start of 2025. On Jan. 1, sUSD dropped to $0.96 and only rebounded to $0.99 in early February. Prices continued to fluctuate through February before stabilizing in March.
On April 10, sUSD fell to a five-year low of $0.83, according to data from CoinGecko.
SUSD is a crypto-collateralized stablecoin. Users lock up SNX tokens to mint sUSD, making its stability highly dependent on the market value of SNX.
SEC, Ripple file joint motion to pause appeals in XRP case
The US Securities and Exchange Commission and blockchain payments firm Ripple agreed to pause their appeals in the ongoing XRP legal battle, signaling a potential move toward a final settlement.
The SEC and Ripple agreed to put their appeals in “abeyance,” meaning the proceedings are now paused pending an anticipated settlement of the XRP case.
“An abeyance would conserve judicial and party resources while the parties continue to pursue a negotiated resolution of this matter,” the parties jointly stated in an April 10 court filing.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously announced the end of the XRP case on March 19, and the new filing hints that the SEC is ready to settle once nominated and confirmed Chair Paul Atkins takes office, according to some community speculation.
Crypto stocks see big gains alongside US stock market rebound
Crypto stocks have surged as part of a broader recovery in the US stock market on April 9 following President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on sweeping global tariffs.
The Wednesday, April 9, trading day closed with Michael Saylor’s Strategy up 24.76% to $296.86, while crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) closed up 17% to $177.09, according to Google Finance data.
Crypto mining companies also saw gains, with MARA Holdings (MARA) up 17%, Cipher Mining (CIFR) up 16.59%, and Riot Platforms (RIOT) rising 12.77%.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $83,430, Ether (ETH) at $1,566 and XRP at $2.02. The total market cap is at $2.63 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Onyxcoin (XCN) at 129.71%, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 77.87% and Hyperliquid (HYPE) at 30.17%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are EOS (EOS) at 20.78%, Tezos (XTZ) at 17.25% and NEAR Protocol (NEAR) at 15.91%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“If we don’t make Bitcoin more useful, we risk making it irrelevant.”
Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of StarkWare
“Perpetual swaps play a key role in price discovery for newly launched altcoins and are a strong sign of market sentiment as they’re often the first derivatives product to be launched.”
Stephan Lutz, CEO of BitMEX
“No one from the MELANIA team has addressed this. Not the movements. Not the selling.”
Bubblemaps, blockchain analytics firm
“So there’s a real prospect of Bitcoin competing with gold and then starting to take some of the gold use cases, like as a geopolitical hedge, take some of that money into Bitcoin.”
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal.”
Raoul Pal, founder of Global Macro Investor
“I actually think the real question is, when does the bull market come? If you ask me, that’s going to be Q3, Q4 of this year.”
Eric Turner, CEO of Messari
Top Prediction of The Week
Bitcoin $100K target ‘back on table’ after Trump tariff pause supercharges market sentiment
Bitcoin staged a sharp rebound after US President Donald Trump announced a pause on tariffs for non-retaliating countries, reigniting bullish momentum and raising hopes for a potential surge toward the $100,000 mark.
On April 9, BTC/USD surged by approximately 9%, reversing most of the losses it incurred earlier in the week, to retest $83,000. In doing so, the pair came closer to validating a falling wedge pattern that has been forming on its daily chart since December 2024.
As of April 9, Bitcoin’s price was confined within the falling wedge range while eyeing a breakout above its upper trendline at around $83,000. If it is confirmed, BTC’s main upside target by June could be around $100,000.
Top FUD of The Week
Feds, SEC charge app maker with fraud, saying ‘AI’ service was Philippine workers
US authorities have charged a tech app founder with fraud, alleging that his advertised artificial intelligence-powered e-commerce app actually relied on human workers in the Philippines.
Albert Saniger of Barcelona, Spain, founder and former CEO of the company Nate, was charged with one count of securities fraud and wire fraud, the Justice Department said in an April 9 statement, while the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil action.
Court documents said Saniger founded Nate around 2018 and launched an app of the same name in July 2020, marketing it as an AI-powered universal shopping cart that offered users the ability to complete online retail transactions, including filling in shipping details and sizing, without human input.
Democrats slam DOJ’s ‘grave mistake’ in disbanding crypto crime unit
Crypto-critical US Senator Elizabeth Warren has led six Senate Democrats in urging the Department of Justice to reverse its decision to terminate its crypto investigations and prosecutions division.
In an April 10 letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the senators said the decision to disband the department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was a “grave mistake” that would support “sanctions evasion, drug trafficking, scams, and child sexual exploitation.”
Senators Richard Durbin, Mazie Hirono, Sheldon Whitehouse, Christopher Coons and Richard Blumenthal signed the letter in addition to Warren.
Jack Dorsey’s Block fined $40M for alleged crypto compliance, AML failures
Digital payments company Block, Inc. has reached a $40 million settlement with New York regulators over alleged compliance misconducts tied to its Cash App platform, Bloomberg reported on April 10.
Block was fined by the New York Department of Financial Services following an investigation into Cash App’s Anti-Money Laundering and cryptocurrency compliance operations, Bloomberg said after reviewing the government agency’s consent order.
NYDFS determined that Block allegedly violated consumer protection laws and didn’t conduct proper due diligence on its customers. The company was allegedly too slow in reporting suspicious transactions to regulators and failed to adequately screen so-called “high-risk” Bitcoin transactions.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research
Crypto projects like Pump.science and VitaDAO are using crypto speculation to research longevity and anti-aging treatments.
Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express
Fake Chinese soldier’s door-to-door crypto scam, a Bitcoin mining firm serves as a legitimate front for illicit operations, and more!
UK’s Orwellian AI murder prediction system, will AI take your job? AI Eye
Tariffs on China to kickstart USA-based robot factories, creepy robot dogs given cute dragon makeovers, is your job at risk to AI?
Editorial Staff
Bitcoiners are ‘all in’ on Trump since Bitcoin ’24, but it’s getting risky
Many Bitcoiners believe that Donald Trump will save the industry from the Democrats. But that could only happen if he wins.
Read more
Crypto City: The ultimate guide to Miami
With a tropical climate, low taxes and diverse population, Miami-Dade County is one of the most affluent and blockchain-friendly cities in the United States.
Read moreBitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6 – 12