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Paws is a viral Telegram Mini App that has rapidly gained traction as a gamified Web3 engagement platform. Originally launched on The Open Network (TON) in October 2024 and later migrated to Solana in early 2025, Paws incentivizes user activity through a tap-to-earn model that rewards engagement with $PAWS tokens. Users interact with mini-games, read articles, refer friends, and complete various tasks directly within Telegram to earn points that convert into tokens. The app saw massive adoption, reaching over 80 million users, and its migration to Solana enabled lower fees, improved scalability, and integration with the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. The official PAWS token launched in March 2025, with airdrops distributed primarily to active app users, though the launch was marred by price volatility and communication issues.
Despite its explosive growth and promising future roadmap—including an in-app marketplace, NFT-based avatar customization, guild mechanics, and deeper DeFi integrations—Paws has sparked debate over its legitimacy. While the platform benefits from a successful track record (Notcoin, Dogs) and significant user engagement, concerns remain around transparency (no public team or whitepaper), bot-driven airdrop farming, and uncertain regulatory standing due to the nature of Telegram-based Mini Apps. Ultimately, Paws shows strong potential as a Web3 super app, but users should approach with caution and perform due diligence before investing time or money. Source
Riot Platforms, one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, sold 475 BTC in April for approximately $38.8 million to fund its operations and growth, choosing to avoid raising capital through equity and thereby preventing shareholder dilution. The move comes in response to tightening profit margins following Bitcoin’s April 2024 halving, which slashed mining rewards by 50%. Riot’s own production dropped 13% month-over-month despite maintaining its hash rate, and it sold not only all the Bitcoin mined that month but also 12 additional BTC from its reserves. Despite the sale, Riot still holds over 19,000 BTC, valued at around $1.8 billion.
The broader mining industry is facing increased pressure from rising network difficulty and Bitcoin prices that remain below all-time highs. As of early May, mining difficulty surged to 119 trillion hashes—a 35% year-over-year increase—further squeezing profit margins for miners who must contend with higher operational costs. Even though Bitcoin has risen 47% over the past year, its retreat from the $109,000 peak to around $94,000 has been enough to trigger major selloffs. On April 7 alone, miners offloaded 15,000 BTC, marking one of the largest single-day sell-offs in 2025, underscoring the financial strain on the sector. Source
Crypto market manipulation has evolved far beyond the early days of lone actors and pump-and-dump schemes. Today, sophisticated and highly coordinated networks of traders operate across centralized exchanges, derivatives platforms, and onchain markets, leveraging advanced tools and communication channels like private Telegram groups. These manipulations, often subtle and hard to detect, exploit fragmentation in the crypto ecosystem to create ripple effects that distort prices and liquidity across platforms. The recent involvement of major players, including through mechanisms like spot Bitcoin ETFs, adds a layer of risk, as these groups can exploit off-market hours and cross-platform arbitrage opportunities to maximize gains and evade detection.
Despite the growing complexity of these schemes, not all manipulation is technically illegal, complicating enforcement efforts. For instance, when large funds draw attention to a token via public purchases or market makers subtly support a token’s price at a project's request, it blurs ethical and legal lines. However, outright fraud—such as using thousands of accounts to inflate an asset—is more clear-cut and harder to overlook. Exchanges are increasingly relying on AI-driven tools and inter-platform cooperation to combat manipulation, with collective vigilance and data sharing becoming crucial defences. While manipulation persists, the ability to do so undetected is diminishing, suggesting the crypto market's best protection lies in unity and transparency among stakeholders. Source
A newly introduced U.S. crypto bill draft, the “Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft,” aims to reduce the dominance of large crypto firms and promote broader market participation. Spearheaded by House Republicans, the proposal revises the earlier FIT21 bill by lowering the threshold for disclosing token holdings from 5% to 1%, potentially increasing transparency and decentralization. The bill also defines a "mature blockchain system" as one no longer under common control, positioning the SEC as the primary regulator until sufficient decentralization is achieved. It further distinguishes digital commodities from traditional securities and exempts qualifying DeFi protocols from broker-dealer registration, aiming to clarify and streamline oversight of digital asset markets.
The draft is part of a broader Republican initiative to establish a clear, innovation-friendly regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto industry, contrasting with what they criticize as the SEC's past “regulation-by-enforcement” approach under Gary Gensler. It offers crypto firms a path to raise funds under SEC oversight while enabling registration of digital commodities with the CFTC. However, political tensions remain, with Democrats like Rep. Maxine Waters reportedly planning to block related hearings, citing procedural issues. Still, proponents see the draft as a pivotal step toward ending legal uncertainty and advancing U.S. leadership in digital asset innovation. Source
Algorithmic trading firm Two Prime has announced a complete exit from Ethereum (ETH), citing what it describes as the network’s increasingly erratic performance, lack of direction, and waning institutional appeal. The firm labelled ETH as "statistically broken" and claimed it now behaves more like a meme coin than a stable, predictable asset. Two Prime, which had lent over $1.5 billion against BTC and ETH in the past 15 months, will now focus exclusively on Bitcoin (BTC), citing its superior market momentum, clearer use case, and dominant position in ETF inflows, which total over $115 billion compared to Ethereum’s $6.68 billion.
The firm criticized Ethereum’s leadership for failing to adapt, noting that its layer-2 ecosystem has undermined the value of its mainnet, leaving it without a clear monetization model. In contrast, Bitcoin was praised for its consistency and singular purpose, traits Two Prime sees as increasingly vital in the evolving crypto landscape. Ethereum’s current struggles—down 51% year-to-date and trading around $1,833—stand in sharp contrast to Bitcoin’s near-all-time-high levels. While the Ethereum Foundation has recently attempted to streamline leadership with new co-directors, Two Prime argues the project’s foundational issues run deeper, and that other blockchains like Solana now offer more compelling value propositions. Source
Markethive, a blockchain-based social media and broadcasting platform, has launched Version 2 of its innovative newsfeed, marking a major step in its mission to empower entrepreneurs with censorship-free, personalized, and engaging content spaces. Unlike traditional platforms that rely on a single, algorithm-driven feed, Markethive introduces a multi-newsfeed structure, allowing users to tailor their experience across general news, blogs, videos, and curated content. This decentralized ecosystem offers creators more control, advanced customization, and transparency, positioning itself as a true alternative to centralized social networks criticized for bias and content suppression. Founder Thomas Prendergast emphasizes that Markethive's newsfeed innovations aim to surpass what platforms like X (formerly Twitter) are attempting, giving users the power to publish rich, blog-style content with broadcasting capabilities.
The newly integrated Mini Blog Newsfeed V.2 brings features like self-destructing posts, post scheduling, permalinks for sharing, and an upgraded HTML editor that enables rich formatting and multimedia content. Users with the Newsfeed Broadcast Upgrade gain access to enhanced tools for creating visually compelling, ad-ready content. Additionally, a streamlined commenting system boosts interaction by allowing direct engagement from the main feed. Markethive's ecosystem continues to evolve toward decentralization, offering users a blend of social networking, marketing, and e-commerce tools within a unified platform. With the upcoming release of Version 3, Markethive aims to further redefine how individuals and businesses connect and share in the blockchain era. Source
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed a significant restriction on the crypto industry by suggesting a ban on the use of borrowed funds—including credit cards, loans, and crypto credit lines—to purchase digital assets. This proposal comes in response to growing concerns that consumers are taking on unsustainable debt to invest in highly volatile cryptocurrencies. The FCA highlighted the financial risks associated with relying on crypto value to repay borrowed funds, noting that 14% of UK crypto users reported using credit to buy crypto as of August 2024—a 133% increase from two years prior.
In addition to the credit purchase ban, the FCA is also considering prohibiting crypto lending and borrowing platforms and implementing stricter liability standards for staking firms, requiring them to cover losses if they fail to assess their operational risks properly. While the proposed ban may not apply to FCA-authorized stablecoins, it reflects a broader regulatory push to reduce consumer exposure to high-risk crypto products. The FCA is currently seeking public input on these proposals, with the consultation period open until June 13. Source
The article by Chris Jenkins argues that the original vision of the internet—as an open and accessible space for collaboration and free speech—has been eroded by the dominance of centralized Web2 tech giants. Companies like Meta and Alphabet are accused of collecting user data without consent, manipulating information discoverability through opaque algorithms, and controlling public discourse in ways that violate privacy and suppress free expression. High-profile scandals, such as Cambridge Analytica and Meta’s alleged unauthorized use of personal data for AI training, underscore the power imbalance and data exploitation that define today’s internet. This centralization, Jenkins contends, has transformed the web into a tool of surveillance and control rather than empowerment and equality.
In response, Jenkins champions blockchain-powered, decentralized technology as the key to reclaiming digital freedom. Decentralized applications (DApps), supported by protocols like IPFS and Filecoin, offer censorship-resistant alternatives that eliminate single points of failure and ensure uninterrupted access to information. However, many DApps still rely on centralized infrastructure for critical components, creating vulnerabilities. To truly enable free speech, Jenkins calls for a full transition to decentralized tech stacks—from data storage to content delivery and remote procedure calls—ensuring that no single entity can control or disrupt information flows. This decentralized architecture, he argues, is essential for building a transparent, resilient, and open internet aligned with Tim Berners-Lee’s original vision. Source
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into PayPal’s dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), without taking any enforcement action. Launched in August 2023 to tap into the Web3 payments space, PYUSD is backed by U.S. dollar deposits and short-term Treasuries. PayPal had disclosed in November 2023 that it received a subpoena from the SEC regarding the stablecoin, reflecting broader concerns over regulatory uncertainty in the stablecoin sector. However, in an April 2025 SEC filing, the company confirmed the inquiry had concluded with no further action. This resolution coincides with PayPal’s ongoing efforts to boost PYUSD adoption, including the introduction of user reward incentives. Source
Crypto hardware wallet company Ledger has issued a warning about a new phishing scam where fraudsters are sending physical letters to users, pretending to represent the company. These fake letters claim that customers must validate their wallets by entering their 24-word recovery phrase through a link provided, allegedly for security updates. The scam mimics official language and branding to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information that would give attackers full access to their crypto assets.
Ledger has emphasized that the company will never ask for users' recovery phrases under any circumstances and that any such request is a clear sign of fraud. The firm also warned that impersonators commonly reach out via email, phone calls, and social media, often pretending to be Ledger support agents. Ledger urged users to avoid engaging with unsolicited communications and to seek help only through its official support channels to prevent falling victim to these increasingly sophisticated scams. Source
President Donald Trump’s Truth+ streaming app is considering launching a utility token and a digital wallet for its ecosystem. According to Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the proposed token could be used to pay for subscriptions to Truth+ and potentially for other products within the Truth ecosystem. This exploration of a crypto-based system follows a broader initiative by TMTG to integrate more financial products, including a partnership with Charles Schwab to launch Truth.Fi, a fintech firm that will offer crypto services. Additionally, TMTG plans to invest $250 million into digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), as part of its financial diversification strategy.
Trump's ventures into the crypto space, including the controversial Solana-based TRUMP memecoin, have drawn both interest and criticism. While some view these moves as innovative, others, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, have raised concerns about the potential for political manipulation through such tokens. Public Citizen has even argued that the TRUMP coin may violate federal laws regarding gifts to government officials. Despite the criticism, TMTG’s board is moving forward with plans to create America-First-themed investment products, including customized exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) focused on both traditional equities and cryptocurrencies. Source
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
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