BNB Chain delivered a standout Q1 performance in revenue and on-chain metrics, even as its market cap dipped almost 15%. According to a new report by Messari, BNB Chain posted strong revenue performance in Q1 2025, with network earnings jumping…

BNB Chain posts strong Q1 performance despite 15% market cap dip: Messari

FIFA Collect, the official digital collectibles platform of FIFA, is upgrading 
its infrastructure and migrating to a new EVM-compatible FIFA Blockchain, the 
organization announced. The migration is expected to begin no earlier than May 
20, 2025, with users notified in…

FIFA to migrate to its own EVM-compatible blockchain for FIFA Connect

An elderly US individual is reportedly the victim of a devastating $330 
million Bitcoin heist, now ranked as the fifth-largest crypto hack in history.
The attacker used advanced social engineering tactics to gain access to the 
victim&#8217;s wallet, onchain investigator ZachXBT said in an April 30 update on X.
The hack took place on April 28, 2025, when ZachXBT flagged a suspicious 
transfer involving 3,520 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $330.7 million.
Following the transfer, the stolen stash was quickly laundered through over 
six instant exchanges and swapped into privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero 
(XMR).
Onchain data shows that the victim had held over 3,000 BTC since 2017, with no 
prior history of large-scale transactions.
_ZachXBT confirming the victim of the hack. Source: ZachXBT_
Once stolen, the attacker wasted no time laundering the Bitcoin using a peel 
chain method &#8212; a common obfuscation technique in which large sums are broken 
into smaller, harder-to-trace chunks.
&#8220;$330M in BTC was received in two transactions, then immediately distributed 
via peel chains,&#8221; Yehor Rudytsia, onchain researcher at Hacken, explained to 
Cointelegraph.
&gt; &#8220;Funds started to flow into multiple instant exchanges / mixers with small 
&gt; amounts, then mixers were distributing funds across multiple new wallets. 
&gt; The biggest funnelling chain is now consists of 40+ wallets.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Loopscale recovers $2.8M after weekend DeFi hack and bounty 
talks**_
## Over 300 wallets and 20 exchanges were involved
Hacken&#8217;s internal tool, Extractor, tracked $284 million worth of BTC funneled 
through these chains, which now amounts to around $60 million after repeated 
&#8220;peeling&#8221; and redistribution across low-credibility exchanges.
Rudytsia said over 300 hacker wallets and 20+ exchanges or payment services 
were involved, including Binance.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Binance for comment.
&#8220;Major problem in cases like this (similar to Genesis creditor&#8217;s 4064 BTC 
theft back in Aug 2024) is that freezing centralized exchange accounts used in 
the laundering process is hardened due to particularly slow legal process of 
police reporting and investigations,&#8221; Rudytsia added.
Adding to the complexity, the attacker rapidly converted a significant portion 
of the BTC into XMR. The move triggered a 50% surge in Monero&#8217;s price, with 
the token briefly reaching $339.
&#8220;Once funds are swapped into Monero, tracing becomes virtually impossible due 
to its privacy-preserving architecture. The chance of recovery drops 
significantly after this step,&#8221; Cyvers Alerts senior security operations lead 
Hakan Unal said.
Unal said that the attacker likely had pre-established accounts across 
multiple exchanges and OTC desks, suggesting a high degree of premeditation.
A small portion of the stolen BTC was also bridged to Ethereum and deposited 
into various platforms, further complicating tracking efforts. Investigators 
have since alerted exchanges for potential freezing of funds.
_**Related:**__**North Korean hackers set up 3 shell companies to scam crypto 
devs**_
## No familiar laundering tactics
ZachXBT had previously dismissed the theory that North Korea&#8217;s Lazarus Group 
could have been behind the attack, suggesting independent hackers were 
responsible.
_ZachXBT dismissing North Korea theory. Source: ZachXBT_
While attribution remains uncertain, experts agree the laundering tactics show 
rare automation and coordination for a heist of this magnitude.
&#8220;So far, we haven&#8217;t been able to confidently link this activity to any known 
hacker group, as the laundering methods used &#8212; while sophisticated &#8212; don&#8217;t 
clearly match the signature patterns of previously identified actors,&#8221; Unal 
noted.
He recommended using multisignature (multisig) wallets to eliminate single 
points of failure, minimizing exposure to hot wallets connected to the 
internet, regularly rotating private keys, and relying on hardware-based cold 
storage to safeguard large Bitcoin holdings.
In the first quarter of 2025, hackers stole more than $1.6 billion worth of 
crypto from exchanges and onchain smart contracts, blockchain security firm 
PeckShield said in an April report.
More than 90% of those losses are attributable to a $1.5 billion attack on 
Bybit, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, by North Korean hacking outfit 
Lazarus Group.
_**Magazine: **__**TV hit Peaky Blinders to launch crypto game, FIFA Rivals 
on Polkadot: Web3 Gamer**_

$330M Bitcoin social engineering theft victim is elderly US citizen

Bitcoin ETFs continued their winning streak with an eighth consecutive day of 
inflows, bringing in $173 million as Blackrock&#8217;s IBIT remained the dominant 
force. Ether ETFs held firm, notching their fourth straight day of inflows, 
led by Fidelity’s FETH. Bitcoin and Ether ETFs Keep Momentum With $191 Million 
Combined Inflows The crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) […]

Bitcoin ETFs Hit Eighth Day of Successive Gains With $173 Million Inflow

Crypto was born from an open-source ethos, where code was shared publicly, 
accessible for review and shaped by community contributions. Transparency and 
verifiability are foundational principles that enable trust in Bitcoin.
But as the space matured, some disadvantages of open source surfaced. 
Innovative smart contract platforms and decentralized finance (DeFi) 
applications were forked to create direct competitors &#8212; from the wave of 
Uniswap clones to Ethereum forks &#8212; which prioritized speed and lower fees 
over decentralization.
As a result, some projects opted for closed-source development to protect 
proprietary designs and reduce the risk of exploits, hoping to delay or deter 
malicious actors by making the code harder to analyze. This approach is often 
criticized as &#8220;security through obscurity,&#8221; where hiding vulnerabilities 
instead of fixing them becomes a line of defense.
Closed-source systems run counter to crypto&#8217;s original vision of 
decentralization and transparency. What started as a grassroots movement among 
cypherpunks and hackers is now increasingly mainstream and integrating with 
the very institutional system it once sought to disrupt.
## **Solana Loopscale exploit shows why open source can still be more secure**
An exploit on Solana&#8217;s Loopscale protocol shows that closed source is not a 
one-size-fits-all solution for keeping malicious actors out. On April 26, just 
weeks after launching, the closed-source DeFi lending platform suffered a 
$5.8-million exploit. A hacker reportedly manipulated collateral parameters to 
take out a series of undercollateralized loans, draining funds from the 
protocol.
_**Related:**__**Why do crypto bros like freedom cities?**_
While the incident ended on a relatively positive note &#8212; Loopscale was able 
to negotiate with the attacker to return the funds &#8212; it reignited concerns 
about the prevalence of closed-source projects on Solana and in crypto more 
broadly.
_Closed source is no silver bullet for security. Source:__Nirlin_
&#8220;Jordan,&#8221; an engineer at Solana research firm Anza, called out this issue in a 
2023 critique, describing closed-source DeFi protocols and wallets as one of 
the network&#8217;s biggest weaknesses. He argued that when a small group can change 
code without oversight, users are forced to blindly trust teams rather than 
verifiable smart contracts.
According to DefiLlama data, closed-source protocols dominated Solana&#8217;s DeFi 
ecosystem in its early days but shared half of the stage with open-source 
alternatives in late 2021. Since then, the shift has been gradual but clear. 
As of April 29, open-source protocols accounted for nearly 90% of the value 
locked in Solana&#8217;s DeFi space.
_Funds locked in Solana DeFi have moved to open-source protocols. 
Source:__DefiLlama_
&#8220;Audited, open-source code is the best way forward. By keeping your code 
closed source, you are just hiding back doors, otherwise known as &#8216;security by 
obscurity.&#8217; By being open source, getting audited and having a bounty program, 
protocols can get more eyes on their code while also incentivizing everyone to 
do the right thing,&#8221; said Max Kaplan, founder of Sol Strategies.
## **Crypto is growing up and moving away from open source**
Though there are strong voices pushing to keep crypto open source, many in the 
industry have raised concerns about a growing shift toward closed-source 
development.
_Paradigm partner &#8220;Frankie&#8221; shares observations of crypto moving away from the 
open-source era. Source: __Frankie_
Closed source is a standard design choice in the corporate world, used to 
protect intellectual property, preserve competitive advantage, and reduce the 
risk of exploits. Increasingly, crypto firms are adopting that same mindset &#8212; 
not to replace traditional infrastructure, but to integrate with it.
Many of the most prominent players in the space are no longer trying to 
disrupt the financial system outright. Firms are reportedly seeking bank 
charters, building institutional rails and engaging regulators. In that 
context, closed-source code isn&#8217;t viewed as a betrayal of crypto&#8217;s ideals, but 
rather a practical step toward becoming part of the world they once sought to 
displace.
_Some builders are sick of getting their work stolen. Source:__Hoss_
This debate isn&#8217;t limited to crypto. In early 2025, China&#8217;s DeepSeek shook 
global markets with the release of a powerful, low-cost and open-source AI 
model. It showcased how open-source innovation can challenge Western AI 
dominance.
But according to Matt Pearl, director of the strategic tech program at the 
Center for Strategic and International Studies, open-source AI can be 
dangerous without safety guardrails.
_**Related:**__**DeepSeek privacy concerns raise international alarm bells**_
Pearl and his co-authors argued in a February commentary that open-source AI 
allows anyone to download, modify and strip out safeguards. Pearl said 
DeepSeek can easily be jailbroken to produce malware, phishing kits or 
disinformation, making it more likely to be abused by cybercriminals than 
closed models.
## **Proponents wants to keep crypto open source**
One common argument for closing off smart contract code is that regular users 
do not read it, while malicious actors do. However, Mikko Ohtamaa, founder of 
Trading Strategies, said this misses the point.
&#8220;Even if 99% of DeFi users are code illiterate and do not know what the code 
says, it takes only one honest person to debunk bad code and warn other 
users,&#8221; he said, adding that projects can still protect their intellectual 
property through licensing, citing examples like Uniswap v3&#8217;s business license 
model.
Research also supports the case for open-source security. A 2022 report by 
software firm Red Hat, based on a survey of nearly 1,300 IT leaders, found 
that most consider enterprise open-source software to be as secure or more 
secure than proprietary alternatives.
&#8220;Transparency is the fundamental property of cryptography and blockchain 
systems. Without transparency, there is no verify. With no verify, any low 
trust system like a blockchain is no better than a centralised system,&#8221; 
Ohtaama said.
_**Magazine:**__**Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi 
tokenization race**_

The open source debate: Is crypto losing its soul?

Cryptocurrency hackers stole more than $90 million in April, dealing another 
blow to the industry&#8217;s mainstream reputation despite ongoing efforts to 
improve cybersecurity.
Hackers made off with $92 million of digital assets across 15 incidents in 
April, according to an April 30 research report by blockchain cybersecurity 
firm Immunefi.
The total marks a 124% month-over-month increase from March, when hackers 
stole $41 million.
_Crypto stole in April 2025. Source: Immunefi_
The month&#8217;s largest hack on open-source platform UPCX accounted for most of 
the damage in April, with over $70 million in losses, while KiloEx lost $7.5 
million as April&#8217;s second-largest hack.
The KiloEx exploiter returned the stolen funds just days after the attack 
occurred.
All of April&#8217;s reported attacks targeted decentralized finance (DeFi) 
platforms. Centralized exchanges reported no incidents during the month, the 
report noted.
_Top 10 losses in April. Source: Immunefi_
Immunefi, which says it helps protect $190 billion in user funds, has paid 
more than $116 million in bounties to white hat hackers.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin volatility lowest in 563 days, Hayes predicts $1M BTC 
by 2028**_
## State-backed threats raise alarms
The report comes nearly two months after Bybit exchange lost over $1.4 billion 
on Feb. 21 &#8212; the largest hack in crypto history.
&#8220;The sheer scale of the attack shows how state-backed actors are arguably the 
most pressing threat to our industry,&#8221; according to Mitchell Amador, Founder 
and CEO of Immunefi.
&#8220;This is a reminder of the need for security measures that protect the entire 
security stack and help protocols prevent catastrophic attacks before they 
happen,&#8221; Amador told Cointelegraph, adding:
&gt; &#8220;Protocols must be built for resilience under the assumption that attackers 
&gt; will find a way in, and investors must assume that even the safest-looking 
&gt; interfaces or emails might be traps.&#8221;
He called for protocols to adopt a &#8220;zero-trust&#8221; approach and implement more 
robust protections across the entire technology stack.
_**Related:**__**Bunq, Europe &#8216;s second-largest neobank, expands into 
crypto**_
Bug bounties, regular audits and formal verifications will be essential to 
ensure to security of smart contracts and backed infrastructure, he said.
As of the end of April, hackers have already stolen more than $1.7 billion 
worth of digital assets in 2025, already surpassing the estimated $1.49 
billion in losses for all of 2024, according to Immunefi.
The state-backed North Korean Lazarus Group&#8217;s pause in the second half of 
2024 may have been a repositioning in preparation for staging the world&#8217;s 
largest hack on Bybit, Eric Jardine, Chainalysis&#8217; cybercrimes research Lead, 
told Cointelegraph.
_**Magazine:**__**Financial nihilism in crypto is over &#8212; It&#8217;s time to dream 
big again**_