Ethereum lost its spot as the top NFT platform from the first time, to its layer 2 Polygon.

Polygon NFT sales surpass Ethereum, driven by RWA-based Courtyard

IOTA will implement its largest network upgrade to date on May 5, 
transitioning its mainnet to the new IOTA Rebased protocol. The upgrade 
introduces full decentralization, staking, Layer 1 smart contract support via 
MoveVM, and scalability exceeding 50,000 transactions per…

IOTA to undergo major mainnet upgrade to Rebased protocol in May

Bitcoin mining firm Bitdeer has secured a $60 million loan to ramp up its 
Bitcoin ASIC manufacturing efforts as global mining competition intensifies 
amid record-breaking network hashrates.
According to its annual report, Bitdeer entered a loan agreement in April with 
affiliate firm Matrixport, a crypto financial services company founded by 
Bitdeer chairman Jihan Wu.
The facility offers up to $200 million, backed by Bitdeer&#8217;s Sealminer 
hardware, with a floating interest rate of 9% plus market benchmarks. As of 
April 21, Bitdeer had drawn $43 million from the credit line.
_Source: Bitdeer &#8216;s Annual Report_
The latest funding adds to a $17 million unsecured loan secured in January, 
alongside previous capital raises totaling $572.5 million via convertible 
notes in 2024. Bitdeer also issued over six million shares, raising nearly 
$119 million in equity markets this year.
_**Related:**__**Top Bitcoin miners produced nearly $800M of BTC in Q1 2025**_
## Bitdeer acquires 101 MW Alberta power project
In February 2025, Bitdeer acquired a fully licensed 101 megawatt (MW) gas- 
fired power project near Fox Creek, Alberta, for $21.7 million in cash, per 
the annual filing.
The site, with potential to scale up to 1 gigawatt, includes all necessary 
permits for construction and a 99 MW grid connection. The power plant is set 
to be developed with an EPC partner and is expected to be operational by the 
fourth quarter of 2026.
In March, the company also purchased 40 MW worth of liquid-cooled mining 
containers from Saiheat.
More recently, it was reported that Bitdeer is expanding its self-mining 
operations and investing in United States-based production. The shift came in 
response to cooling demand for its mining hardware from other miners.
&#8220;Our plan going forward is to prioritize our own self-mining,&#8221; Jeff LaBerge, 
Bitdeer&#8217;s head of capital markets and strategic initiatives, reportedly said.
Additionally, on Feb. 28, 2025, Bitdeer launched a $20 million share 
repurchase program, effective through February 2026. To date, it has 
repurchased 1,056,500 Class A shares valued at approximately $12 million under 
this program.
_**Related:**__**American Bitcoin &#8216;s ambition is to dominate mining &#8212; Hut 8 
CEO**_
## Bitcoin hashrate surges while miner revenues shrink
Bitdeer&#8217;s expansion comes as Bitcoin&#8217;s network computing power hit a record 1 
sextillion hashes per second in early April, according to BitInfoCharts.
_Bitcoin hashrate. Source: BitInfoCharts_
A higher hashrate indicates that more miners (or more powerful machines) are 
competing to solve Bitcoin blocks. As competition rises, each individual 
miner&#8217;s chance of earning block rewards decreases, implying declining 
profitability.
Further hurting miner revenue are low transaction fees. As of now, the average 
Bitcoin transaction fee hovers around $1, down from over $16 per transfer in 
April last year, according to YCharts.
The low transaction fees and rising hashrate forced public miners to sell over 
40% of their BTC production in March &#8212; the highest since late 2024.
Firms like Hive, Bitfarms and Ionic Digital reportedly sold more than 100% of 
their monthly output.
_**Magazine: **__**Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra &#8216;s plan to win trust: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest, April 13 &#8211; 19**_

Bitdeer secures $60M to boost Bitcoin ASIC production amid record hashrate

The Japanese yen continued its strong surge against the U.S. dollar as 
investors embraced its role as a safe-haven asset. The USD/JPY exchange rate 
plunged to 139.92 on Tuesday, its lowest level since September last year and 
11.5% below its…

Will the rising Japanese yen affect Bitcoin and altcoin prices?

Mantra founder and CEO John Mullin has begun an $80 million burn of OM tokens 
to regain users&#8217; trust following the token&#8217;s sudden crash earlier in April. 
However, the question of the underlying reasons for the OM crash remains 
unanswered, blockchain investigators told Cointelegraph.
Unpacking Mantra&#8217;s OM crash requires a detailed forensic study rather than 
just basic blockchain analysis, Natalie Newson, senior blockchain investigator 
at the blockchain security firm CertiK, said.
&#8220;A full forensic investigation, akin to what we saw post-FTX, would be needed 
to substantiate claims of calculated exploitation,&#8221; Newson told Cointelegraph, 
highlighting challenges of tracing over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.
Newson&#8217;s perspective on the OM crash came days after Mantra released its post- 
crash statement, asking centralized exchange partners to collaborate on 
further unpacking the incident.
## Onchain activity versus opaque OTC deals
Addressing the OM token crash, CertiK&#8217;s Newson stressed the importance of 
distinguishing between public onchain activity and the &#8220;more opaque nature of 
OTC deals.&#8221;
Mantra CEO Mullin publicly disclosed that the Mantra team &#8220;has done a small 
amount of OTCs&#8221; up to $30 million of OM tokens in an interview with 
Coffeezilla on April 15.
_Mantra &#8216;s founder and CEO, John Mullin, in an interview with Coffeezilla. 
Source: YouTube_
Unlike traceable transactions on centralized exchanges, OTC crypto transfers 
involve a method of buying and selling cryptocurrencies outside of exchanges, 
designed to enable deep liquidity and big trades while mitigating the 
volatility of prices.
&#8220;In this case, the accumulation of approximately 100 million OM by a whale 
appears to have been the result of secondary market transactions &#8212; not 
necessarily direct activity from Mantra insiders,&#8221; Newson said.
## Analysis by Arkham or Nansen is not enough
As previously mentioned, Mullin denied allegations that the OM crash resulted 
from an insider token dump, claiming that the blockchain analytics platform 
Arkham &#8220;mislabelled&#8221; some of the wallets.
Newson said that data from Arkham and similar platforms like Nansen would be 
insufficient to confirm or deny insider involvement.
&#8220;To confirm coordinated insider behavior, it would likely require more than 
just basic wallet tracing on platforms like Arkham or Nansen,&#8221; Newson said, 
adding:
&gt; &#8220;Blockchain analytics tools can provide directional clues, but without 
&gt; access to offchain agreements and centralized exchange records, drawing 
&gt; definitive conclusions would be difficult.&#8221;
Newson is not alone in highlighting the complicated nature of tracing 
transactions in the OM token crash.
_**Related:**__**Mantra OM token crash exposes &#8216;critical&#8217; liquidity issues in 
crypto**_
&#8220;There are ways to get data from the node, but it does not seem to be easy to 
get a full history,&#8221; Whale Alert&#8217;s co-founder Frank Weert told Cointelegraph.
Mullin previously said that the team has been considering hiring a forensic 
auditor following the OM crash, but had made no decisions as of April 16.
Arkham did not respond to multiple Cointelegraph inquiries to comment on the 
Mantra incident.
_**Magazine:**__**Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra &#8216;s plan to win trust: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest, April 13 &#8211; 19**_

Unpacking Mantra’s OM crash requires forensic study — CertiK exec

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied above $89,000 on April 22, its highest level since early 
March, buoyed by strong spot demand during US trading hours on April 21. The 
recovery, however, faced a serious challenge in breaking above $90,000 as 
sell-side liquidity blocked the way._BTC/USD daily chart. Source: 
Cointelegraph/__TradingView_
## Bitcoin price faces stiff resistance on the upside
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price has 
been steadily moving toward the $89,000 level over the last six hours, leading 
to questions about whether the barrier at $90,00 will finally give in.
_XRP/USD hourly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/__TradingView_
&#8220;BTC is closing in on the big $ 90 K-$91 K horizontal area which acted as the 
previous range low,&#8221; said popular trader Daan Crypto Trades in an April 22 
post on X.
The trader explained that the price had swept the $89,000 level as it was 
consolidating below it. Note that the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) is 
currently located just above this level, reinforcing its significance.
Daan Crypto Trades said that the price needs to overcome these barriers in 
order to confirm a breakout.
&gt; &#8220;Quite a few resistances close by, but a few percentage moves and you&#8217;ll 
&gt; break through all of them, and the chart looks pretty great. Bulls know what 
&gt; to do.&#8221;
_BTC/USD daily chart. Source:__Daan Crypto Trades_
## Bitcoin price breaking $91-$92K is key &#8212; Analyst
Meanwhile, CryptoQuant&#8217;s head of Research, Julio Moreno, said that the 
traders&#8217; onchain realized price between $91,000 and $92,000 is the real test 
for Bitcoin bulls.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin risks 10%-15% BTC price dip after key rejection near 
$89K**_
According to Moreno, the traders&#8217; realized price usually acts as resistance 
when the crypto market is bearish, which is the current situation of Bitcoin.
_Source:__Julio Moreno_
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every 
investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their 
own research when making a decision.