Top Crypto News Of The Day: MicroStrategy, Hong Kong ETFs, and More

Here is the top crypto news of the day curated by CoinChapter.com.

Roger Ver Faces Indictment on Tax Evasion Charges

The so-called “Bitcoin Jesus” Roger Ver has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of tax fraud. Ver was arrested in Spain based on the charges of mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. 

The indictment alleges that Ver failed to report around $48 million in capital gains from selling Bitcoin and other assets in 2017 when he liquidated around 70,000 BTC for $240 million ahead of Bitcoin’s bull run. U.S. officials plan to extradite Ver to stand trial.

Bitcoin Price Plunges Below $60k as Hong Kong ETFs Disappoint

The launch of Hong Kong’s first Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs got off to an underwhelming start. Despite projections over $100 million, it attracted only around $200 million in assets under management on day one.

The six listed crypto ETFs saw just $11 million in trading volume, with Bitcoin ETFs accounting for $8.5 million and Ether ETFs $2.5 million. While a modest debut for the local market, it pales in comparison to U.S. Bitcoin ETF launches, which attracted nearly $4 billion in the first week.

Amid the lukewarm launch of the BTC and ETH ETFs, Bitcoin’s price plunged below $60,000 as global economic headwinds and a market correction hit the crypto markets.

The drop was also exacerbated by disappointing trading volumes for newly launched Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong, which fell far below expectations on their debut day. Over $275 million in crypto liquidations occurred in 24 hours as Bitcoin futures premiums dropped. Analysts also warned of further downside towards key moving average support levels if shorting persisted.  

Coinbase Embraces Lightning Network While Coal Miner Has Been Mining Bitcoin Since 2020

One of the top crypto news stories is Coinbase’s integration with the Lightning network. Crypto exchange Coinbase has integrated the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Customers can now choose to route Bitcoin transactions through the Layer 2 scaling solution. This allows users to make near-instant and low-cost payments compared to on-chain transactions that can take minutes or hours to confirm.

To use Lightning on Coinbase, the recipient generates an invoice with a string of characters representing the payment amount, which Coinbase recognizes and completes the transfer.

Furthermore, Coinbase cautioned that transfers to some self-custody wallets could still face delays or failures due to implementation differences. The exchange will charge senders a 0.1% processing fee for Lightning transactions.

Meanwhile, coal mining firm Alliance Resource Partners disclosed an under-the-radar Bitcoin mining operation during its recent earnings call. The company cited excess energy capacity at its mining sites as the driver behind the crypto venture and saw this as an “opportunity” to monetize these spare resources.

Another Crypto News of the Day: Animoca Brands Enters Bitcoin, DeFi Growth Continues

Gaming firm Animoca Brands is expanding into Bitcoin by backing the new Opal Foundation protocol and associated BLIF token.

Animoca Brands is coming to #Bitcoin!

Bitcoin is ready for Web3. OPAL Protocol (@OpalBTC), powered by $BLIF and initiated by @darewise & @animocabrands, is slated to become the largest #Web3 ecosystem of #gaming, entertainment, #Defi, education, and culture, built on Bitcoin.
A… pic.twitter.com/WcJ65vMHfB

— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) April 30, 2024

Developed in collaboration with metaverse tech firm Darewise, the protocol represents Animoca’s first major Bitcoin initiative as it expands beyond Ethereum and other chains.

This comes as the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem sees a resurgence. The protocol SolvBTC locked $700 million in value across multiple chains from its yield-bearing synthetic BTC tokens. The burgeoning protocol has already surpassed 10,000 BTC staked and onboarded over 92,000 participants within a month of its launch.

AnimeCoin Debuts Ethereum NFT Game “Gacha Grab”

The AnimeCoin Foundation recently came up with a new online game titled “Gacha Grab.” Launched this past Monday, the game is reminiscent of a virtual slot machine, drawing inspiration from Japan’s gachapon toy vending machines. In “Gacha Grab,” players are invited to spin a dial to collect points and prizes. Each spin costs 100 credits and awards a digital Gachapon collectible, with each Gachapon offering varying levels of rewards across eight distinct types.

Developed in partnership with the Azuki NFT collection on the Ethereum blockchain, “Gacha Grab” allows players to accumulate credits by owning any Azuki, Elementals, or Beanz NFTs. The recent announcement by AnimeCoin stated that individuals who participated in the inaugural Bonus Quest in March would receive an additional 100 bonus credits. 

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