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April 12, 2025

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Solana price looks prime for a 45% rally according to one top crypto trader. His bullish forecast comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed a lawsuit against Helium, a protocol that runs on the SOL blockchain. 

At press time, Solana price trades at $124 with a 5% gain in 24 hours. 

SEC Drops Charges Against Top SOL Protocol 

The SEC has dropped charges against Helium, which has sparked a Solana price rally. Helium is a protocol that migrated to the SOL blockchain in 2023. The lawsuit in question alleged that Nova Labs violated US securities laws by issuing the HNT token. 

The lawsuit was filed in January 2025 just before the resignation of the former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. The current pro-crypto SEC has now dismissed the case with prejudice, which means that the regulator cannot file a similar cause against Helium in the future. The move comes shortly after the SEC outlined a new approach to regulating the crypto industry. 

Helium’s founder also hailed the company’s victory saying that the dismissal would bode well for the HNT token and the entire ecosystem. He opined, 

“Putting this SEC matter behind us is a huge win for the entire Helium community, as well as other crypto projects which use hardware to build their networks.” 

The dismissal has also stirred gains for Solana price, which is the blockchain atop which Helium is built. 

Top Trader Forecasts 45% Solana Price Rally to $180 

One of the top traders in the crypto space, Ansem has shared a bullish Solana price forecast and predicted that the altcoin may be on the verge of a massive 45% rally towards $180. 

The analyst shared a Solana daily timeframe chart showing that the SOL price was hovering between a multi-year support zone of between $121 and $121. Flipping this zone could spark the start of a bullish reversal. 

Ansem added that if Solana can close above $120 decisively on the weekly chart, it will kickstart a 45% rally to $180 within weeks. Once it hits $180, it may lead to fresh all-time highs.

SOL/USDT: 1-day Chart

Another analyst, CryptoCurb, supported this bullish outlook saying that Solana price will rally not only because of a bullish technical outlook but also robust fundamentals. 

“People are grossly underestimating how high Solana will go. Solana is the first blockchain that is being globally adopted at scale.” 

This bullish view comes amid speculation that Solana will outperform Ethereum and possibly attain half of ETH’s market capitalization. With catalysts like a crypto-friendly SEC, buying activity that has helped SOL defend critical support and positive sentiment, Solana price may post a 45% gain. 

The post Top Trader Forecasts 45% Solana Price Rally as SEC Drops Charges Against SOL Protocol Helium appeared first on CoinGape.

APX Lending Funding:- In a renewed investor confidence, Toronto-based APX Lending has raised $20 million to cater to the growing demand for “crypto-backed loans” in Canada.

The agreement includes an accordion facility provided by private credit investment firm Cypress Hills. The accordion facility is designed to expand an existing credit line without renegotiating the entire deal.

This is aimed at providing APX with the flexibility to scale operations rapidly and comes soon after it become the first Crypto-Backed Loan Provider in Canada to receive Exemptive Relief by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).

APX Lending Cypto-Backed Loans : How it Functions

APX Lending, established in early 2023, is a Toronto-based crypto-backed lending platform. It is founded by the team behind Coinberry, one of Canada’s prominent licensed crypto exchanges. The platform enables crypto holders to borrow stablecoins and other digital assets using major tokens like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as collateral.

The platform stores client funds in segregated cold-storage wallets with BitGo, a leading crypto custodian offering over $250 million of insurance. Additionally, all crypto funds are moved using Fireblocks, which offers a further $35 million of insurance coverage.

While APX Lending offers complete visibility of loan collateral on the blockchain throughout the tenure of loans, it operates within the Centralized Finance (CeFi) domain. This means that, unlike decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, APX Lending does not operate entirely on-chain with automated smart contracts managing loan issuance and liquidation.

Crypto Lending on APX Lending

The timing of this funding round is telling. Analysts suggest that a resurgence in BTC and crypto prices, particularly Bitcoin’s climb past $70,000 in early 2025, has reignited demand for crypto-backed borrowing.

Notably, long-term holders (HODLers) are once again exploring loan options to unlock liquidity without liquidating their positions.

Further, Canadian lending market is also set for growth with projections estimating USD 3.42 billion by 2030, indicating a CAGR of 26.5%.  According to the Ontario Securities Commission’s 2023 survey, 10% of Canadians aged 18–34 reported borrowing through crypto trading platforms or firms. 

A Sector on the Rebound?

Crypto lending has had a tumultuous history. The space saw major disruptions in 2022 when prominent platforms like Celsius and BlockFi collapsed during the crypto winter, causing investor confidence to plummet.

This came after a series of devastating events including the fall of LUNA/UST, the insolvency of Three Arrows Capital, and the FTX bankruptcy. But now that phase may be giving way to a period of cautious resurgence.

This APX Lending funding particularly signals renewed optimism in the digital asset lending market, especially in light of shifting regulatory landscapes and increasing institutional appetite for alternative collateralized finance.

Recently, Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, co-founder and CSO of another leading Toronto-based digital asset loan protocol, Ledn, also hinted at possible bullish sentiment in the space.

“You’re going to see a Cambrian explosion of bitcoin-backed loans, because the rates are going to drop to a point that is going to make them competitive with home equity or personal lines of credit, or other types of instruments,” Di Bartolomeo said in a recent interview to a prominent media publication.

According to DeFiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) in crypto lending protocols has steadily climbed past $15 billion as of April 2025—up from $9.8 billion in Q4 2024.

Source

Further, leading protocols such as Aave, MakerDAO, and newer entrants like APX Lending are seeing a slow but steady uptick in lending volumes – highlighting near-term bullish sentiment.

 

 

The post APX Lending Secures $20M – Is Demand for Crypto-Backed Loans Rebounding? appeared first on CoinGape.

A crypto trader with a significant trading industry has become the biggest victim of the volatility as they lost nearly $10M ($9.73M to be accurate). Although the ongoing crypto market conditions are quite turbulent, resulting in investors losing major holdings, this case is different as the loss happened in a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). How? Let’s discuss this crypto news.

Crypto News: Trader Lost $9.73M With CryptoPunk 3100

In contrast to the rising demand for cryptocurrencies, the hype of NFTs is on the decline. Interestingly, some of the best ones were sold for as high as a million in their prime. An anonymous crypto trader also bought a CryptoPunk 3100 NFT a year ago.

At that time, this was valued at $15.79M or 4500 ETH per Lookonchain X post. However, the same’s worth declined over time, resulting in the trader bearing a significant loss as they sold for 500 ETH.

The straight calculation put the trader in a loss of $774k. However, the calculation is slightly different, as Ethereum price has declined in this interval due to the weeks-long crypto market downtrend.

At the time of buying, one ETH was equivalent to $3,509. However, the same had dropped more than half (57%) when selling, bringing the trade’s loss to $9.73M.

Not the Only Crypto Trader Affected by Ethereum Price Crash

Ethereum has lost nearly 55% of its value in a year. More importantly, it has declined 68% from its prime, set nearly three years ago. Due to this crypto news, the ETH holders are struggling significantly,

A recent X post by Coin Bureau CEO and founder revealed that a majority of the Ethereum investors are underwater due to profitability divergence, Ethereum’s MVRV Slip, demand disparity, and a few other reasons.

Ethereum’s MVRV dipped below 1.0 in March. This means the average ETH investor is now underwater, unlike their BTC counterparts.

Although he highlighted that the rising global liquidity could tackle these issues, the investors will likely face further losses amid the worsening US-China trade war.

The post Crypto News: Here’s How a Crypto Trader Lost $10M on NFT appeared first on CoinGape.

New York state’s top financial regulator struck a $40 million settlement Thursday with Block Inc., the parent of Cash App, the popular money transmission service, after having found the company had “serious compliance deficiencies” related to its anti-money laundering program and transaction monitoring processes.

The deficiencies at Block, some involving cryptocurrencies, “created a high-risk environment vulnerable to exploitation by criminal actors,” the New York State Department of Financial Services said in the consent order, noting, for example, that Block’s system did not trigger blocks on bitcoin transactions involving terrorism-connected wallets until that exposure exceeded 10%.

Any exposure to terrorism-connected wallets is illegal, the department said. 

The New York regulator examined Block’s practices from early 2021 to September 2022, concluding it did not keep pace with the significant growth it was experiencing. That resulted in Block’s “inability to fully comply with its obligation to effectively monitor, and thereafter report, the transactions being conducted on its platforms for suspected money laundering and other illicit criminal activity.”

Block, which did not admit to the department’s findings, said it was pleased to put the matter behind it.

“As the department has acknowledged, Cash App has devoted significant financial and other resources to compliance remediation and enhancements,” it said in a statement. “We share the department’s dedication to addressing industry challenges and remain committed to investing across our operations to help promote a safe and healthy financial system.” 

Block was launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who lists his current title as Block Head and chairman.

The details in the settlement parallel exclusive reporting by NBC News last year detailing former Block employees’ allegations that the company’s compliance systems were deeply flawed.

According to the former employees, one of whom was also interviewed by federal prosecutors, Block processed multiple cryptocurrency transactions for terrorist groups and did not correct company processes when it was alerted to breaches. Block began offering bitcoin transactions through Cash App in 2018.

Square, another Block unit, processed thousands of transactions involving countries subject to economic sanctions, one of the former employees told NBC News. Documents the former employee provided showed transactions, many in small dollar amounts, involving entities in countries subject to U.S. sanctions restrictions — Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela — as recently as 2023.  

Under the terms of the settlement, Block agreed to bring on an independent monitor for a year, selected by the New York regulator, to conduct a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering and sanctions programs. The monitor will oversee remedial measures as needed, the consent order said, and report its findings to the regulators.

The consent order with the department “does not bind any federal or other state agency or any law enforcement authority,” it noted.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS