North Korean hackers linked to the $1.4 billion Bybit exploit are reportedly targeting crypto developers using fake recruitment tests infected with malware. 

Cybersecurity outlet The Hacker News reported that crypto developers have received coding assignments from malicious actors posing as recruiters. The coding challenges have reportedly been used to deliver malware to unsuspecting developers.

Malicious actors approach crypto developers on LinkedIn and tell them about fraudulent career opportunities. Once they convince the developer, the hackers send a malicious document containing the details of a coding challenge on GitHub. If opened, the file installs stealer malware capable of compromising the victim’s system.

The scam is reportedly run by a North Korean hacking group known as Slow Pisces, also referred to as Jade Sleet, Pukchong, TraderTraitor and UNC4899. 

Cybersecurity professionals warn of fraudulent job offers 

Hakan Unal, senior security operations center lead at security firm Cyvers, told Cointelegraph that the hackers often want to steal developer credentials and access codes. He said these actors often look for cloud configurations, SSH keys, iCloud Keychain, system and app metadata, and wallet access. 

Luis Lubeck, service project manager at security firm Hacken, told Cointelegraph that they also try to access API keys or production infrastructure. 

Lubeck said that the main platform used by these malicious actors is LinkedIn. However, the Hacken team observed hackers using freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr as well.

“Threat actors pose as clients or hiring managers offering well-paid contracts or tests, particularly in the DeFi or security space, which feels credible to devs,” Lubeck added. 

Hayato Shigekawa, principal solutions architect at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that the hackers often create “credible-looking” employee profiles on professional networking websites and match them with resumes that reflect their fake positions. 

They make all this effort to ultimately gain access to the Web3 company that employs their targeted developer. “After gaining access to the company, the hackers identify vulnerabilities, which ultimately can lead to exploits,” Shigekawa added. 

Related: Ethical hacker intercepts $2.6M in Morpho Labs exploit

Be wary of unsolicited developer gigs

Hacken’s onchain security researcher Yehor Rudytsia noted that attackers are becoming more creative, imitating bad traders to clean funds and utilizing psychological and technical attack vectors to exploit security gaps. 

“This makes developer education and operational hygiene just as important as code audits or smart contract protections,” Rudytsia told Cointelegraph. 

Unal told Cointelegraph that some of the best practices developers can adapt to avoid falling victim to such attacks include using virtual machines and sandboxes for testing, verifying job offers independently and not running code from strangers. 

The security professional added that crypto developers must avoid installing unverified packages and use good endpoint protection. 

Meanwhile, Lubeck recommended reaching out to official channels to verify recruiter identities. He also suggested avoiding storing secrets in plain text format.

“Be extra cautious with ‘too-good-to-be-true’ gigs, especially unsolicited ones,” Lubeck added. 

Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

North Korean hackers linked to the $1.4 billion Bybit exploit are reportedly targeting crypto developers using fake recruitment tests infected with malware. 

Cybersecurity outlet The Hacker News reported that crypto developers have received coding assignments from malicious actors posing as recruiters. The coding challenges have reportedly been used to deliver malware to unsuspecting developers.

Malicious actors approach crypto developers on LinkedIn and tell them about fraudulent career opportunities. Once they convince the developer, the hackers send a malicious document containing the details of a coding challenge on GitHub. If opened, the file installs stealer malware capable of compromising the victim’s system.

The scam is reportedly run by a North Korean hacking group known as Slow Pisces, also referred to as Jade Sleet, Pukchong, TraderTraitor and UNC4899. 

Cybersecurity professionals warn of fraudulent job offers 

Hakan Unal, senior security operations center lead at security firm Cyvers, told Cointelegraph that the hackers often want to steal developer credentials and access codes. He said these actors often look for cloud configurations, SSH keys, iCloud Keychain, system and app metadata, and wallet access. 

Luis Lubeck, service project manager at security firm Hacken, told Cointelegraph that these hackers also try to access API keys or production infrastructure. 

Lubeck said that the main platform used by these malicious actors is LinkedIn. However, the Hacken team observed hackers using freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr as well.

“Threat actors pose as clients or hiring managers offering well-paid contracts or tests, particularly in the DeFi or security space, which feels credible to devs,” Lubeck added. 

Hayato Shigekawa, principal solutions architect at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that the hackers often create “credible-looking” employee profiles on professional networking websites and match them with resumes that reflect their fake positions. 

They make all this effort to ultimately gain access to the Web3 company that employs their targeted developer. “After gaining access to the company, the hackers identify vulnerabilities, which ultimately can lead to exploits,” Shigekawa added. 

Related: Ethical hacker intercepts $2.6M in Morpho Labs exploit

Be wary of unsolicited developer gigs

Hacken’s onchain security researcher Yehor Rudytsia noted that attackers are becoming more creative, imitating bad traders to clean funds and utilizing psychological and technical attack vectors to exploit security gaps. 

“This makes developer education and operational hygiene just as important as code audits or smart contract protections,” Rudytsia told Cointelegraph. 

Unal told Cointelegraph that some of the best practices developers can do to avoid falling victim to such attacks include using virtual machines and sandboxes for testing, verifying job offers independently, and not running code from strangers. 

The security professional added that crypto developers must avoid installing unverified packages and use good endpoint protection. 

Meanwhile, Lubeck recommended reaching out to official channels to verify recruiter identities. He also recommended avoiding storing secrets in plain text format.

“Be extra cautious with ‘too-good-to-be-true’ gigs, especially unsolicited ones,” Lubeck added. 

Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

Mantra’s recent token collapse highlights an issue within the crypto industry of fluctuating weekend liquidity levels creating additional downside volatility, which may have exacerbated the token’s crash.

The Mantra (OM) token’s price collapsed by over 90% on Sunday, April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50, triggering market manipulation allegations among disillusioned investors, Cointelegraph reported.

While blockchain analysts are still piecing together the reasons behind the OM collapse, the event highlights some crucial issues for the crypto industry, according to Gracy Chen, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget.

“The OM token crash exposed several critical issues that we are seeing not just in OM, but also as an industry,” Chen said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction daily X show, adding:

“When it’s a token that’s too concentrated, the wealth concentration and the very opaque governance, together with sudden exchange inflows and outflows, […] combined with the forced liquidation during very low liquidity hours in our industry, created the big drop off.”

🎙️ CEXs hit with outages as AWS runs into trouble. The question is, do we need more decentralization? Today, @RKBaggs and @ZVardai are joined by @GracyBitget, CEO of @Bitgetglobal on #CHAINREACTION to unpack the problem!https://t.co/OPoyu1IORC

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 15, 2025

Related: Google to enforce MiCA rules for crypto ads in Europe starting April 23

At least two wallets linked to Mantra investor Laser Digital were among 17 wallets that moved a combined 43.6 million OM tokens — worth about $227 million at the time — to exchanges before the crash, the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported on April 13, citing Arkham Intelligence data.

However, Mantra CEO John Mullin denied the allegations related to large-scale token transfers from Mantra investors, Cointelegraph reported on April 14.

Mantra released a post-crash statement on April 16, reiterating that the OM crash didn’t involve token sales by the project itself and that the Mantra team continues investigating the incident. The report did not explain the rapid movement of OM tokens to exchanges and subsequent liquidations.

Related: UFC boss Dana White becomes VeChain adviser to push blockchain mainstream

Exchange movements point to strong “insider dumping” signal

While the exact reason behind the collapse remains unclear, Mullin attributed the crash to “massive forced liquidations” on centralized exchanges during low-liquidity hours on Sunday.

Mullin told an X user that the Mantra team believes one exchange “in particular” is to blame, but said the team was still “figuring out the details,” and specified that the exchange in question is not Binance. 

“I think OKX was the main exchange being accused of so-called liquidations,” said Chen, adding that the large transfers to multiple exchanges raised significant red flags. She added:

“I did look at the onchain data, which revealed that there were millions of OM tokens moved to centralized exchanges. That’s a very strong signal of insider dumping.”

Weekend liquidity issues have impacted even major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

The lack of weekend trading volume, combined with Bitcoin’s 24/7 liquidity, resulted in Bitcoin’s correction below $75,000 on Sunday, April 6, Cointelegraph reported.

The April 6 correction may have occurred due to Bitcoin being the only large tradable asset over the weekend available for de-risking amid global trade war concerns, Lucas Outumuro, head of research at crypto intelligence platform IntoTheBlock, told Cointelegraph.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

As Polygon lays the groundwork for mainstream Web3 adoption in India by bringing blockchain access to over 450 million Reliance Jio users, it remains focused on balancing speed, scalability and affordability, without compromising on decentralization.

Polygon is working with Jio, a telecom giant owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, to find ways to infuse blockchain technology into its existing services. The duo is currently adding blockchain-based capabilities to the JioSphere web browser, which would have been expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming via traditional methods.

“We’re building at an insane pace, onboarding massive partners, and pushing blockchain into the mainstream, but with that growth comes the responsibility to make sure we’re doing it the right way,” Polygon’s co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, said while discussing Polygon’s India-focused initiatives with Cointelegraph. 

Preserving decentralization while ensuring system scalability

“Scalability and decentralization don’t have to be either-or, and that’s exactly the balance we’re focused on at Polygon,” Nailwal said as he underscored the importance of keeping the core values of blockchain intact: security, transparency and decentralization.

At the same time, Nailwal revealed that Polygon is investing heavily in zero-knowledge technology to make scaling more seamless across the ecosystem. “The goal is to give developers and users the best of both worlds: faster, cheaper transactions without compromising trust or decentralization,” he added.

As a result of delivering the combination of low fees, fast transactions and decentralized security, Polygon is already powering some of the most active use cases in Web3, from stablecoin payments on Polygon PoS to real-world tokenization with major institutions: 

“The key challenge is making blockchain as seamless and accessible as Web2 without compromising what makes it special. That’s why we’re all-in on ZK technology and Agglayer, which let us scale while keeping the ecosystem trustless and interoperable.”Bringing blockchain tech to millions of users

According to Nailwal, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work when onboarding 450 million users from India’s diverse population. “We’ll be working closely with Jio to develop use cases that truly resonate with their users, and gradually onboard them onto the chain based on these real-world applications,” he added.

Nailwal said that developers never have to compromise on the fundamentals, as Polygon’s infrastructure can scale without sacrificing what makes blockchain powerful in the first place:

“What excites me most is that we’re moving beyond technical discussions about blockchain to solving real problems for real people. These are the use cases that will drive the next wave of adoption.”

“At the end of the day, it’s about more than just technology. We’re here to create a decentralized future that billions of people can actually use. And while that’s a massive challenge, it’s also what excites me the most,” Nailwal said.

Related: Indian town adopts Avalanche blockchain for tamper-proof land records

Real-world problem solving will drive the next wave of adoption

Rising threats driven by artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and other misinformation campaigns, are another use case blockchain technology can help solve. Nailwal said that the escalating threat of misinformation and growing consumer insistence on trusted sources will eventually result in an uptick of blockchain-based verification tools.

Additionally, Nailwal highlighted the growing relevance of Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market, in mainstream finance and reporting. “Polymarket’s success is exactly what we’ve been working toward,” he said, adding:

“Prediction markets are proving to be incredibly valuable tools for finance, risk assessment, journalism and even governance. They pull in insights from a wide range of sources, often making them more reliable than traditional polling.”

Nailwal is placing his full bet on blockchain’s immutable nature to transform economic forecasting, policy-making and journalism, among others.

Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon saw $1.26 billion in BTC unstaked from its platform, reducing the protocol’s total value locked by 32%. 

On April 17, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged several addresses that had unstaked a total of 14,929 Bitcoin (BTC) from the staking platform. The security firm flagged four addresses that had unstaked 299 BTC, 499 BTC, 1,000 BTC and 13,129 BTC. 

One address held a majority of the unstaked assets worth $1.1 billion. With BTC prices hovering at around $84,400, the total unstaked BTC was worth about $1.26 billion.

The unstaking event saw Babylon’s total value locked (TVL) drop by 32%. According to data tracker DefiLlama, Babylon’s TVL declined from $3.97 billion to $2.68 billion after the unstaking.

Source: LookonchainUnstaked Bitcoin may be “staked back” to Babylon 

Community members are speculating on who was behind the unstaking. One X user suspected that the Bitcoin may belong to the Chinese government, while another said the move may simply be a rotation, risk-off, or a trader getting liquid.

While it’s unclear who’s behind the four addresses cited by Lookonchain, the fund movements could be related to a transition initiated by the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Lombard Finance. 

At the time of the unstaking, Babylon Labs retweeted an announcement from Lombard, saying it was unstaking Bitcoin as part of a transition to a new set of finality providers. 

Lombard Finance said it timed the unstaking with the end of Babylon’s phase 1 cap 1 on April 24 so users would not miss out on rewards. The protocol said it would stake the assets back.

“All of this BTC will be staked back into Babylon as soon as the unbonding is complete,” Lombard Finance wrote. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Babylon Labs for comments but did not get a response by publication.

Related: Bitcoin L2 ’honeymoon phase’ is over, most projects will fail — Muneeb Ali

Bitcoin unstaking follows BABY airdrop

The massive unstaking event follows a Babylon airdrop for early adopters. On April 3, Babylon announced the details of its early adopters airdrop program. The airdrop was allocated for its Phase 1 stakers, non-fungible token (NFT) holders and developers. The protocol allocated 600 million BABY tokens for the airdrop event. 

Following the airdrop, $21 million in BTC was unstaked from the protocol. Bitlayer co-founder Kevin He previously told Cointelegraph that this was a common short-term market behavior representing early redemption.  

Babylon is one of the largest Bitcoin DeFi players in the space, with a TVL reaching over $6 billion in December. Babylon co-founder Fisher Yu previously told Cointelegraph that the platform allows staking to be a native use case for Bitcoin, eliminating the need to trust another party while staking. 

Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

Update (April 17, 8:00 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include Binance’s comments to Cointelegraph.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is involved in discussions on establishing strategic digital asset reserves with several countries, its CEO, Richard Teng, said.

Binance has been advising multiple governments on establishing strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserves and formulating crypto asset regulations, Teng said in an interview with the Financial Times on April 17.

“We have actually received quite a number of approaches by a few governments and sovereign wealth funds on the establishment of their own crypto reserves,” Teng told the FT.

Binance confirmed the news to Cointelegraph but denied providing details on the specific countries that sought its assistance or the number of such collaborations with governments.

US fuels global crypto reserve spree

According to Teng, the main reason for governments approaching Binance for help in handling potential strategic reserves is the new crypto-friendly agenda in the US.

“Compared to many other jurisdictions, [the US] are way ahead on that front,” the CEO said.

Teng referred to key US crypto policy developments, such as discussions around creating a national Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve seeded with BTC forfeited in federal criminal and civil cases.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (on the left) next to Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal bin Saqib. Source: Pakistan government

While governments of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan have announced collaboration with Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao on crypto regulations in the past few weeks, none of the jurisdictions mentioned crypto reserve plans on their agenda.

Binance shifts stance on headquarters

As Binance deepens its involvement in efforts to help countries set up crypto reserves and regulations, it appears to have shifted away from its no-formal-headquarters approach under Zhao.

According to Teng, Binance is “working very hard” on plans for a global headquarters for the exchange.

Related: Crypto Biz: Ripple’s ‘defining moment,’ Binance’s ongoing purge

“It requires serious deliberation and the board and the senior management are spending a lot of time doing the evaluation,” Teng said, adding: “Hopefully we are able to announce our intentions on that front.”

Source: Changpeng “CZ” Zhao

In 2019, Zhao said that offices and headquarters are “old concepts like SMS and MMS.”

The shift comes as more jurisdictions adopt clearer frameworks for regulating crypto businesses. Binance was subject to heavy scrutiny and investigations by multiple governments in 2020.

Cointelegraph approached Binance for comment regarding its crypto policy collaboration with governments worldwide, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

The cryptocurrency market is still recycling old narratives, with few new trends yet to emerge and replace the dominant themes in the first quarter of 2025.

Artificial intelligence tokens and memecoins were the dominant crypto narrative in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 62.8% of investor interest, according to a quarterly research report by CoinGecko. AI tokens captured 35.7% of global investor interest, overtaking the 27.1% share of memecoins, which remained in second place.

Out of the top 20 crypto narratives of the quarter, six were memecoin categories while five were AI-related.

AI tokens, memecoins, were leading crypto narratives in Q1 2025: CoinGecko

“Seems like we have yet to see another new narrative emerge and we are still following past quarters’ trends,” said Bobby Ong, the co-founder and chief operating officer of CoinGecko, in an April 17 X post. “I guess we are all tired from the same old trends repeating themselves.”

Related: Bitcoin still on track for $1.8M in 2035, says analyst

Interest in memecoins saw a sharp increase ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 after his team launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Jan. 18 and the Official Melania (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19 on the Solana network.

However, some industry watchers are concerned that memecoins are draining capital from utility tokens, such as Solana (SOL), limiting their price potential.

SOL/USDT, 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

SOL has fallen by around 48% in the past three months since Trump’s inauguration, when it briefly peaked above $270, TradingView data shows.

Related: Ethereum L2 development is ‘double-edged sword’ for ETH value

Memecoins “fell off a cliff” after Libra fiasco

The crypto industry took another hit after the collapse of the Libra (LIBRA) token, a memecoin endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, which wiped out $4 billion in market value within hours after insiders allegedly withdrew over $107 million in liquidity, causing a 94% price crash.

Libra token crash. Source: Kobeissi Letter

Memecoins “fell off a cliff” after the Libra scandal as the number of new tokens deployed on Solana’s Pump.fun saw a drastic fall, the report stated, adding:

“Daily tokens deployed has fallen by over 56.3% from its peak in January to 31K at the end of 2025 Q1. The percentage of ‘graduated’ tokens also fell drastically to 0.7%, compared to 1.4% in 2025 January.”Memecoins deployed and graduated on Pump.fun. Source: CoinGecko

While the Libra scandal marked the end of the “politicam memecoin” trend, the industry’s most profitable traders are still hunting for speculative memecoin investments despite the end of the memecoin supercycle.

“There was the recent meme surge and smart money is always happy to capitulate on that,” Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen, told Cointelegraph, adding that memecoins may only be a “fun play” for smart investors, as they aren’t affected by the same macroeconomic concerns as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

At the end of March, a savvy trader turned an initial investment of just $2,000 into $43 million with the popular Pepe (PEPE) memecoin, but missed selling the top, locking in a realized profit of over $10 million, despite Pepe’s over 70% decline.

Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research

The tone of Bitcoin-related social media posts has flipped to bullish according to crypto analytics platform Santiment, despite Bitcoin continuing to swing around $85,000.

“Traders are showing optimism that BTC can regain $90K, which will likely be dependent on tariff and global economy news as the week progresses,” Santiment said in an April 16 X post. The last time Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $90,000 was March 6.

Traders regaining confidence in Bitcoin

Santiment’s social media tracker, which measures how social media users feel about crypto based on the tone of their posts, moved into “bullish territory” on April 16 with a score of 1.973. 

Before that, it was neutral, with a score below 1.606, as social media users were unsure about where Bitcoin’s price was headed as it “has been repeatedly crossing above and below $85K,” Santiment added.

Bitcoin tapped as high as $86,000 on April 15 before retracing down to $83,000 the following day. Bitcoin is trading at $84,390 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin is up 2.73% over the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap

If Bitcoin reclaims the $85,000 price level, approximately $254 million in short positions will be at risk of liquidation, according to CoinGlass.

In the past 24 hours, several popular crypto accounts on X have shared bullish comments on Bitcoin. Samson Mow’s firm Jan3 said that Bitcoin hitting $500,000 “isn’t crazy.”

Crypto trader “Ted” said, “Global money supply is going up, and eventually, this liquidity will go into Bitcoin. Just wait and watch.”

Meanwhile, crypto trader Titan of Crypto said that “according to Dow Theory, BTC remains in an uptrend, consistently printing higher highs and higher lows.”

Related: Bitcoin’s wide price range to continue, no longer a ’long only’ bet — Analyst

Other crypto sentiment trackers are not flashing as bullish, however. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall market sentiment, reads a “Fear” score of 30 out of 100.

It comes after the crypto market posted its weakest first quarter performance in years. 

Bitcoin and Ether (ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, saw price declines of 11.82% and 45.41%, respectively, over Q1 2025 — a quarter that has historically seen strong results for both assets. 

Magazine: Your AI’ digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

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.

A US federal judge agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.” 

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated. 

Screenshot from filing ordering pause of proceedings. Source: CourtListenerDeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16. 

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing. 

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

Related: NY attorney general urges Congress to keep pensions crypto-free — ‘No intrinsic value’

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express

A US federal judge has agreed to pause a lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general and the crypto lobby group DeFi Education Fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission after all parties said new SEC leadership could make the action moot.

Kentucky District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ordered a 60-day stay on the case on April 16, noting a mid-March filing from the SEC that “this case could potentially be resolved” due to a leadership transition at the regulator.

He added that the parties must file a joint status report within 30 days.

Paul Atkins, a Wall Street adviser who has held board positions with crypto advocacy groups, was sworn in as the new SEC chair earlier this month, replacing acting chair Mark Uyeda and taking over from Gary Gensler.

The 18 attorneys general, all hailing from Republican states, filed the lawsuit with the DeFi Education Fund against the securities regulator in November, alleging that the SEC exceeded its authority when targeting crypto exchanges with lawsuits, accusing the regulator and then-chair Gensler of “gross government overreach.” 

The plaintiffs included attorneys general from Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Montana, Indiana, Oklahoma and Florida, among others.

“Without Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions,” the lawsuit stated. 

Screenshot from filing ordering pause of proceedings. Source: CourtListenerDeFi groups drop case against IRS over killed broker rule

Meanwhile, the DeFi Education Fund, Blockchain Association, and Texas Blockchain Council dropped their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on April 16. 

“The parties hereby stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this action without prejudice because the case has become moot,” stated the filing. 

The lawsuit, filed in December, argued that the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule went beyond the agency’s authority and was unconstitutional.

Related: NY attorney general urges Congress to keep pensions crypto-free — ‘No intrinsic value’

On April 11, President Donald Trump signed a bill to revoke the rule that would have required DeFi protocols to report transactions to the IRS.

It comes as the SEC has paused or dropped several high-profile lawsuits against crypto companies this year under its new leadership.

Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express