Internet personality and actor Adam Conover has come under fire for promoting the Sam Altman-backed crypto project, World Chain. The project received backlash in several countries due to data privacy concerns. An Instagram reel posted on Conover&#8217;s official Instagram account…

Why is actor Adam Conover promoting a cryptocurrency orb?

FLOKI has flipped its 200-day moving average into support, marking a 
significant trend reversal. Price is now correcting into a confluence of 
technical levels, setting the stage for a potential explosive move higher. 
After weeks of upward momentum, Floki (FLOKI)…

FLOKI price eyes bullish continuation as correction targets major support zone

Zerebro developer Jeffy Yu has been found alive at his parents&#8217; home in San 
Francisco, days after faking his suicide on a livestream that launched a 
supposed posthumous memecoin past $100 million.
Yu&#8217;s case isn&#8217;t the first time crypto has blurred the line between real death, 
faked death and something in between.
From missing founders to sealed caskets, the industry has a long history of 
exits that left behind more questions than closure.
Here are five unsettling cases &#8212; real, staged or unresolved &#8212; that continue 
to haunt the crypto world.
## 1\. Jeffy Yu faked his death, then his crypto pumped
A clip of Yu broadcasting his &#8220;suicide&#8221; circulated on May 4. The video showed 
him smoking a cigarette before pulling the trigger, then the camera dropped.
Hours later, a scheduled social media post announced the posthumous launch of 
LLJEFFY, a memecoin described as his &#8220;final art piece.&#8221; The coin surged to 
nearly $105 million in market cap.
_LLJEFFY &#8216;s market fell to $5.63 million from its $105 million peak. Source: 
__DEX Screener_
But Yu wasn&#8217;t dead. Blockchain wallets tied to him kept moving. A copy of a 
letter &#8212; allegedly written by Yu &#8212; described the exit design as a response 
to ongoing harassment and blackmail.
_Yu &#8216;s obituary on online memorial site Legacy.com has now been removed. 
Source: __Vee/Legacy.com_
Reporters from The San Francisco Standard eventually found Yu at his parents&#8217; 
home. He refused to comment on the suicide stunt or whether he profited from 
it.
In the world of memecoins, this kind of spectacle isn&#8217;t new. In late 2024, 
Pump.fun&#8217;s livestream feature triggered a wave of stunts &#8212; suicide threats, 
animal abuse and other shocking acts &#8212; to pump token prices. The company shut 
it down and later relaunched a toned-down version.
## 2\. A crypto whistleblower&#8217;s descent into paranoia and possible death
In February 2025, a suspected Chinese programmer who called themselves Hu 
Lezhi burned 500 Ether (ETH) (worth around $1.3 million at the time) and 
donated another 1,950 ETH (over $5 million) to various groups like WikiLeaks 
and the Ethereum Foundation.
All of it came with onchain messages alleging that a hedge fund called 
WizardQuant (aka Kuande Investment) was using &#8220;brain-computer weapons&#8221; to 
control its employees &#8212; including Hu.
_**Related:**__**4chan rises from the dead: How the imageboard moves crypto 
markets**_
The messages read like sci-fi horror. Hu claimed he&#8217;d been a mind-control test 
subject since childhood and warned of a future where humans were nothing more 
than &#8220;puppets or complete slaves to the digital machine.&#8221;
_Hu Lezhi &#8216;s final messages before disappearing. Source: __Etherscan_
In one of his last messages, Hu said they would &#8220;leave the world&#8221; if they 
reached the final stage of becoming a &#8220;complete slave to the digital machine.&#8221; 
Some translated the series of messages as an onchain suicide note.
To date, they haven&#8217;t re-emerged. And unlike Yu, Hu&#8217;s wallet hasn&#8217;t moved.
## 3\. The crypto whiz and the cryptic tweet before his death
On Oct. 28, 2022, DeFi developer Nikolai Mushegian posted a chilling tweet: 
&#8220;CIA and Mossad and pedo elite are running some kind of sex trafficking 
entrapment blackmail ring… they are going to torture me to death.&#8221;
By the next morning, he was found face-down in the surf near his beach house 
in Puerto Rico.
_A final tweet, a washed-up body, and silence louder than truth. 
Source:__Nikolai Mushegian/fucnti0nZer0_
Mushegian wasn&#8217;t a random crypto kid. He was an early developer at MakerDAO 
and a key architect of the stablecoin ecosystem.
He was also increasingly paranoid &#8212; or, depending on who you ask, 
increasingly aware. Critics dismissed the tweet as a mental health crisis, but 
others weren&#8217;t so quick to look away.
_**Related:**__**8 major crypto firms announce US expansion this year**_
The timing of his death sparked a wave of theories: assassination, targeted 
silencing or even MKUltra-style mind control.
Officially, it was ruled an accidental drowning.
## 4\. Crypto investors can&#8217;t believe QuadrigaCX founder&#8217;s death
In December 2018, Gerald Cotten, the 30-year-old founder of Canadian crypto 
exchange QuadrigaCX, reportedly died in India from Crohn&#8217;s disease.
But there was one massive problem: He was the only person with access to $190 
million in crypto.
_Cotten &#8216;s case was so high-profile that it became the subject of a Netflix 
documentary. Source: __Netflix/YouTube_
As news of his death spread, so did the questions. There was no public 
autopsy, his death certificate misspelled his name (spelling Cotten as 
Cottan), the casket was sealed, and a growing army of investors wanted his 
body exhumed for DNA testing.
Quadriga officially declared bankruptcy in 2019. Thousands of clients were 
locked out of their funds. Eventually, investigators discovered the cold 
wallets were empty, prompting auditor EY to begin recovery efforts.
Some suspected Cotten had run a Ponzi scheme for years and used his death as 
the ultimate escape plan. The rumors have not been confirmed, but the official 
story remains that he died a tragic death, as confirmed by Indian authorities.
## 5\. Reports of Cryptoqueen&#8217;s death are greatly exaggerated
Self-styled &#8220;Cryptoqueen&#8221; Ruja Ignatova, co-founder of the $4-billion OneCoin 
scam, hasn&#8217;t been seen since she boarded a Ryanair flight from Sofia to Athens 
in October 2017.
Cotten left no access. Ignatova left no trace.
Since then, rumors have swirled. Some say that she underwent plastic surgery 
and lives under a new identity or that she&#8217;s being protected by the Bulgarian 
mafia.
A Bulgarian investigative outlet claims Ignatova was allegedly murdered in 
November 2018 on a yacht in the Ionian Sea and that her body was dismembered 
and dumped overboard under the orders of Bulgarian crime boss Christophoros 
Amanatidis to cover his ties to OneCoin.
More recently, German officials reportedly assumed that Ignatova is in a South 
African suburb living with private security.
Ignatova has been on the US FBI&#8217;s 10 Most Wanted list since 2022.
_ The US Federal Bureau of Investigation raised Ignatova&#8217;s bounty to $5 
million in June 2024. Source: __FBI_
 _**Magazine:**__**10 crypto theories that missed as badly as &#8216;Peter Todd is 
Satoshi&#8217;**_

These five crypto figures vanished, died or fooled us all

**Key Takeaways:**
 * Bitcoin&#8217;s realized cap has grown by $30 billion since April 20, reflecting steady investor confidence and new capital inflows.
 * A Bitcoin price consolidation pattern forecasts a potential 10% breakout by next week.
Bitcoin (BTC) continues to show strong bullish momentum as fresh capital 
inflows signal potential new price highs in the coming week. In an X post, 
Glassnode reported that Bitcoin&#8217;s Realized Cap, which measures the total value 
of BTC based on the price at which each coin last moved, grew by $30 billion 
since April 20, growing at a 3% monthly rate in May. The current realized cap 
is $900 billion.
_Bitcoin Realize cap. Source: Glassnode_
Though slower than the 8% spike in late 2024 when BTC hit $93,000, this growth 
reflects steady investor confidence and new capital entering the market.
Adding to the optimism, Glassnode revealed a significant shift in market 
dynamics. The 7-day simple moving average (SMA) of Bitcoin&#8217;s Spot Volume Delta 
flipped positive, peaking near $5 billion on May 13.
_Bitcoin spot volume delta. Source: Glassnode_
This aggressive net spot buyer demand, seen only a few times this year as 
highlighted, confirms strong spot market conviction behind Bitcoin&#8217;s recent 
push above the $100,000 psychological resistance. The surge in spot buying 
pressure suggests institutional and retail investors drive the rally, not just 
leveraged trading.
Despite the slower Realized Cap growth compared to late 2024&#8217;s $50 billion 
spike, the current market sentiment remains positive.
_**Related: Strategy will beat all public equities with Bitcoin, analyst 
says**_
## Will Bitcoin gain 10% by next week?
Bitcoin has shown a steady consolidation and expansion trend since forming a 
bottom around $74,500 in early April. Over the past four weeks, a pattern has 
emerged where each time Bitcoin hits a key level, it moves sideways before 
breaking out to a higher range. This pattern has repeated twice, with a third 
consolidation currently underway.
_Bitcoin 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView_
Each phase has followed a similar setup, forming higher upper and lower 
ranges. The bottom range is typically tested at least once before Bitcoin 
pushes to new highs. The relative strength index (RSI) has complemented this 
price action, reaching overbought levels during new highs and dropping to 
around 50 during sideways movement.
Currently, Bitcoin is consolidating between an upper range of $105,700 and a 
lower range of $100,678. If the pattern holds, Bitcoin might retest the 
$100,000-$102,000 level before potentially breaking above $110,000. However, a 
bearish invalidation could occur if prices fall below $102,000 and fail to 
recover swiftly.
_**Related: Market volatility indicator still points to $135K Bitcoin within 
100 days &#8212; Analyst**_
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.

Bitcoin bulls aim for new all-time highs by next week as capital inflows soar

Tanim Rasul, chief operating officer at Canadian crypto exchange NDAX, said 
Canada &#8220;got it wrong&#8221; categorizing stablecoins as securities in 2022, and the 
country needs to realize that every other regulatory regime is looking at 
stablecoins as payment instruments.
Rasul made the remarks during a panel on May 13 at the Blockchain Futurist 
Conference in Toronto, pointing to Europe&#8217;s crypto regulatory framework as a 
model for Canada to consider:
&gt; &#8220;I&#8217;m sure the regulators are wondering if this was the right choice to 
&gt; approach stablecoins as a security. […] I would just say, look at MiCA, look 
&gt; at the way they&#8217;re approaching stablecoins. It&#8217;s a payment instrument. It 
&gt; should be regulated as such.&#8221;
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) classified stablecoins as 
&#8220;securities and/or derivatives&#8221; in December 2022, following &#8220;recent events in 
the crypto market,&#8221; such as the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX just 
a month before.
_**Related:**__**What Canada &#8216;s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto**_
 _Canadian Web3 Regulation panel at Blockchain Futurist Conference. Source: 
Cointelegraph_
The agency elaborated on stablecoin rules in February and October of 2023, 
placing such tokens under the umbrella of &#8220;value-referenced crypto assets.&#8221;
Canada&#8217;s stance on digital assets led many top crypto companies, including 
Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Paxos, to scale back operations in the local market. 
Crypto exchange Gemini also announced exit plans in September 2024.
The regulatory setback, however, hasn&#8217;t stopped Canada&#8217;s digital asset market 
from flourishing. According to Grand View Research, the local crypto industry 
posted revenue of $224 million in 2024, higher than in previous years. It is 
expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.6% until 2030, when it 
is forecast to reach $617.5 million in annual revenue.
_**Related:**__**Bitstamp &#8216;s departure from Canada is &#8216;timing issue,&#8217; says 
CEO**_
## Stablecoins have emerged as key crypto use case
Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to a fiat currency, have emerged as a key 
use case for digital assets. According to DefiLlama, the current market 
capitalization for all stablecoins is at $242.8 billion as of May 14, up 51.9% 
in the past 12 months.
_Stablecoin market cap. Source:__DefiLlama_
Nation-states and economic blocs are increasingly working on stablecoin 
regulations to tackle the rising usage across the world. While the most used 
stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, there is demand for stablecoins 
pegged to other fiat currencies.
_**Magazine:**__**Legal Panel: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it &#8216;s 
becoming them in stablecoin fight**_

Canada 'got it wrong' labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec

The Ethereum Foundation announced the “Trillion Dollar Security” (1TS) 
initiative, a three-part plan to enhance Ethereum’s resilience for high-value 
institutional and individual use. Ethereum’s 1TS Initiative Focuses on 
Protocol, Smart Contract Risks The project aims to enable billions of users to 
securely store over $1,000 each onchain and support single contracts holding 
more than $1 […]