Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced it intends to deploy its existing and future Bitcoin hashrate to Ocean’s Bitcoin mining pool in an effort to strengthen the network’s decentralization.

“Deploying hashrate to OCEAN aligns with both our mining investments and our broader mission to fortify Bitcoin against centralizing forces,” Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino said in an April 15 statement.

Source: OCEAN Mining

While Bitcoin hashrate is decentralized, the block-building process conducted by mining pools is mostly centralized by a few dominant actors — most notably Foundry USA, AntPool and ViaBTC.

The Ocean protocol attempts to decentralize this process by empowering miners to build their own block templates using their open-source Datum protocol, reducing dependency on centralized intermediaries and enhancing censorship resistance, Tether said.

Tether’s deployment would leverage Ocean’s Datum software across all of its mining operations worldwide, including in rural areas in Africa. 

“By enabling on-site generation of unique block templates and aggregating thousands of rig connections with low-latency performance, Datum ensures global competitiveness while promoting geographic and operational diversity,” Tether said.

Related: Inside the Trump-backed Bitcoin mining mega-deal with Hut 8

Tether currently deploys Bitcoin hashrate at sites in Uruguay, Paraguay and El Salvador, where the $144 billion stablecoin issuer is also headquartered.

Those initiatives emerged around the time Tether announced it would invest $500 million into Bitcoin mining in late 2023.

Ocean was created by Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr in 2023 and has been backed by the likes of Block CEO Jack Dorsey. Ocean also relocated its headquarters to El Salvador in May 2024.

Dashjr sparked controversy in December 2023 when he slammed Bitcoin Ordinals users for clogging the network with “spam.” However, he refuted claims that Ocean censored the non-fungible token-like transactions.

Ocean still has a lot of market share to capture

The Ocean protocol currently mines between 0.2% to 1% of Bitcoin blocks, according to mempool.space data.

It has mined nine blocks over the last week, including two in a row at 892342 and 892343 on April 14.

However, Ocean’s output remains a fraction of that seen by Foundry USA, AntPool and ViaBTC, which have mined 331, 199 and 161 Bitcoin blocks, respectively, over the same time frame — accounting for over 66% of all blocks.

The Tether partnership would likely provide a much-needed boost to Ocean’s hashrate, which has amounted to 18.3 exahashes per second (EH/s) over the last 24 hours.

OCEAN protocol’s Bitcoin mining statistics. Source: mempool.space

By comparison, Foundry USA’s hashrate over the same timeframe has exceeded 298 EH/s, leveraging hashrate from the likes of Bitcoin mining firms Hut 8, Bitdeer and Bitfarms.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

US President Donald Trump hosted El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele at the White House on April 14, with talks centered on trade and immigration, excluding Bitcoin from the public agenda.

Pressing issues of migration and bilateral security cooperation set the tone of Bukele’s first official meeting at the White House during Trump’s second term. 

According to a livestream shared by Bukele’s office on X, Trump raised the possibility of transferring US citizens convicted of crimes to prisons in El Salvador, urging Bukele to expand the country’s prison system to house more prisoners. “I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places.” 

Source: Nayib Bukele

Since taking office, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of alleged foreign criminal individuals to El Salvador under a $6 million deal between the countries.

Trump also addressed the ongoing trade war unleashed by his administration on April 2, suggesting a potential temporary exemption for automakers aimed at easing the transition of their supply chains.

“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters present at the meeting, adding that the US auto industry “need[s] a little bit of time” to relocate production to the country. 

The meeting did not touch on digital assets and Bitcoin (BTC) policy — a flagship initiative of both presidents’ administrations. 

El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, pioneering the Bitcoin strategic reserve approach later followed by Trump.

The US president positioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate during the 2024 election. On March 6, Trump signed an executive order to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve and digital asset stockpile in the United States.

The US holds nearly 198,000 BTC, valued at over $17 billion as of March. The reserve is primarily formed of Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil cases, including significant amounts from the Silk Road and Bitfinex hack cases.

Related: How much Bitcoin does the US hold, and where did it come from?

El Salvador’s BTC plans face IMF opposition

El Salvador signed off in December a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which included commitments to unwind Bitcoin-related initiatives and reduce public sector involvement with digital assets.

While the Salvadoran Congress amended its Bitcoin laws in January to comply with the deal, the government has continued its daily purchases of BTC. The country’s National Bitcoin Office’s tracker shows it currently holds 6,147.18 BTC, worth about $520.7 million at this writing. 

Related: Tether will relocate HQ to El Salvador after securing license

Escalating trade wars are rattling cryptocurrency markets — but they are also creating new use cases for blockchain networks, Truebit executives told Cointelegraph. 

On April 2, President Donald Trump announced plans to charge sweeping tariffs on US imports, prompting other nations to threaten retaliatory measures. Trump later paused the tariff rollout for certain countries — but the possibility of a global trade war still looms, especially after Trump reiterated his commitment to taxing Chinese goods.

If high tariffs materialize, blockchain technology can play an important role in ensuring governments apply them fairly, according to the executives. Blockchain can “really help you prove provenance […] proving the chain of custody,” Federico Kattan, Truebit’s chief technology officer, told Cointelegraph. 

Trump’s proposed tariffs would transform global trade. Source: Statista

For example, a company might “assemble or do some packaging in a low-tariff country and then import into the US at 10% instead of 58%… [but] blockchain can help establish where the product actually came from,” Kattan said.

Blockchain networks can enhance supply chain transparency by recording every transaction on an immutable public ledger, greatly limiting the scope for fraud across trillions of dollars worth of imported goods.

Trump’s proposed tariffs would impact $2.4 trillion worth of imports, according to a report by the Tax Foundation. Retaliatory measures by other countries could add to that figure.

Truebit is a blockchain network specializing in helping users add trustless verification to a wide variety of applications.

It is already in talks with software vendors servicing the US government and has been working on a European Union-funded project exploring Web3’s potential role in global supply chains, the executives said.

“We’re not yet talking directly to governments, but to the software vendors trying to interface with them — because that’s where we want to be,” Jason Teutsch, Truebit’s CEO, said.

Truebit’s native token has struggled since launching in 2021. Source: CoinGecko

Related: Trade tensions to speed institutional crypto adoption — Execs

Truebit was launched in 2017 and launched its TRU token in 2021. The token has a fully diluted market capitalization of $20 million, according to CoinGecko.

Trade war risks

However, several other crypto executives cautioned that tariffs pose serious risks to blockchain networks’ integrity and accessibility to users.

Worsening trade wars threaten to disrupt networks’ physical infrastructure, fragment regulatory regimes, and censor users, they said.

“Aggressive tariffs and retaliatory trade policies could create obstacles for node operators, validators, and other core participants in blockchain networks,” Nicholas Roberts-Huntley, CEO of Concrete & Glow Finance, told Cointelegraph.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Escalating trade wars are rattling cryptocurrency markets — but they are also creating new use cases for blockchain networks, Truebit executives told Cointelegraph. 

On April 2, President Donald Trump announced plans to charge sweeping tariffs on US imports, prompting other nations to threaten retaliatory measures. Trump later paused the tariff rollout for certain countries — but the possibility of a global trade war still looms, especially after Trump reiterated his commitment to taxing Chinese goods.

If high tariffs materialize, blockchain technology can play an important role in ensuring governments apply them fairly, according to the executives. Blockchain can “really help you prove provenance […] proving the chain of custody,” Federico Kattan, Truebit’s chief technology officer, told Cointelegraph. 

Trump’s proposed tariffs would transform global trade. Source: Statista

For example, a company might “assemble or do some packaging in a low-tariff country and then import into the US at 10% instead of 58%… [but] blockchain can help establish where the product actually came from,” Kattan said.

Blockchain networks can enhance supply chain transparency by recording every transaction on an immutable public ledger, greatly limiting the scope for fraud across trillions of dollars worth of imported goods.

Trump’s proposed tariffs would impact $2.4 trillion worth of imports, according to a report by the Tax Foundation. Retaliatory measures by other countries could add to that figure.

Truebit is a blockchain network specializing in helping users add trustless verification to a wide variety of applications.

It is already in talks with software vendors servicing the US government and has been working on a European Union-funded project exploring Web3’s potential role in global supply chains, the executives said.

“We’re not yet talking directly to governments, but to the software vendors trying to interface with them — because that’s where we want to be,” Jason Teutsch, Truebit’s CEO, said.

Truebit’s native token has struggled since launching in 2021. Source: CoinGecko

Related: Trade tensions to speed institutional crypto adoption — Execs

Truebit was launched in 2017 and launched its TRU token in 2021. The token has a fully diluted market capitalization of $20 million, according to CoinGecko.

Trade war risks

However, several other crypto executives cautioned that tariffs pose serious risks to blockchain networks’ integrity and accessibility to users.

Worsening trade wars threaten to disrupt networks’ physical infrastructure, fragment regulatory regimes, and censor users, they said.

“Aggressive tariffs and retaliatory trade policies could create obstacles for node operators, validators, and other core participants in blockchain networks,” Nicholas Roberts-Huntley, CEO of Concrete & Glow Finance, told Cointelegraph.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed the $84,500 level on April 14, and the recovery appears partially fueled by the announcement of partial import tariff relief by US President Donald Trump. However, traders’ optimism faded on April 13 when it became apparent that the relaxation was temporary and that tariffs on the electronics supply chain could be revisited.

Uncertainty surrounding the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China impacted Bitcoin markets, causing traders to lose some of their regained confidence. This explains why Bitcoin’s price failed to break above $86,000 and why BTC derivatives showed limited short-term potential, potentially setting the tone for the next few days.

Bitcoin 2-month futures annualized premium. Source: Laevitas.ch

The premium on Bitcoin monthly futures contracts peaked at 6.5% on April 11 but has since dropped to 5%, which is near a neutral to bearish threshold. Sellers typically require a 5% to 10% annualized premium for longer settlement periods, so anything below this range indicates reduced interest from leveraged buyers.

Bitcoin sentiment dims as stock market ties dent bullish momentum

Traders’ brief excitement can be linked to President Trump’s April 13 announcement that tariffs on imported semiconductors would be reviewed during the week. This suggests that exemptions for smartphones and computers are not final, according to Yahoo Finance. Trump reportedly said: “We want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country.”

Bitcoin traders experienced emotional swings during this period of fluctuating expectations. The performance of broader markets, particularly large technology companies reliant on global trade, appears to have influenced Bitcoin sentiment. The strong intraday correlation between Bitcoin and stock markets has dampened bullish enthusiasm, leaving open questions about whether this effect is limited to BTC futures.

S&P 500 futures (left) vs. Bitcoin/USD (right). Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph

To determine whether Bitcoin traders’ sentiment is merely mirroring trends in the S&P 500, it is helpful to examine the BTC options markets. If professional traders anticipate a significant price drop, the 25% delta skew indicator will rise above 6%, as put (sell) options become more expensive than call (buy) options.

Bitcoin 30-day options 25% delta skew (put-call) at Deribit. Source: Laevitas.ch

On April 13, the Bitcoin options delta skew briefly dipped below 0%, signaling mild optimism. However, this momentum did not hold on April 14, reinforcing data from Bitcoin futures that show no significant bullish sentiment despite prices recovering from the $74,440 lows.

Weak spot Bitcoin ETF inflows also behind traders’ limited optimism

Another way to gauge market sentiment is by analyzing stablecoin demand in China. Strong retail interest in cryptocurrencies usually pushes stablecoins to trade at a premium of 2% or more above the official US dollar rate. In contrast, a premium below 0.5% often indicates fear as traders move away from crypto markets.

Related: Crypto markets ‘relatively orderly’ despite Trump tariff chaos: NYDIG

USDT Tether (USDT/CNY) vs. US dollar/CNY. Source: OKX

Between April 6 and April 11, Tether (USDT) in China traded at a 1.2% premium, reflecting moderate enthusiasm. However, this trend reversed, with the premium now at just 0.5%, suggesting that the earlier excitement has dissipated. Hence, traders remain cautious and show little confidence in Bitcoin surpassing $90,000 in the near term.

The announcement of Strategy’s $286 million Bitcoin acquisition at $82,618 failed to boost sentiment, as investors suspect that the recent temporary decoupling from stock market trends was largely driven by this purchase. Similarly, Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $277 million in outflows between April 9 and April 11, further weakening any potential improvement in trader confidence.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Update (April 14 at 9:12 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a comment from the Ontario Securities Commission.

Spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are set to launch in Canada on April 16, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas. 

In an X post on April 14, the analyst shared a private client note from TD Bank, a Canadian financial institution, claiming the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) greenlighted asset managers Purpose, Evolve, CI and 3iQ to issue ETFs holding Solana (SOL).

Canada does not have a federal securities agency, with its territories and provinces applying their own securities laws. Toronto’s securities exchange is regulated by Ontario’s OSC.

The ETFs are permitted to stake a portion of the SOL holdings for added yield, Balchunas said, adding that the upcoming listings are “our first look at the alt coin race.” 

In a statement to Cointelegraph, the OSC said the approval and oversight of SOL ETFs are in accordance with a January notice outlining amending rules for publicly traded funds holding cryptocurrencies.

Source: Eric Balchunas

Related: SEC approves options on spot Ether ETFs

Waiting on US approval

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged dozens of applications to list ETFs holding alternative cryptocurrencies, or “altcoins,” but so far has only approved funds holding spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) for trading. 

Staking is still off-limits for US crypto ETFs. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said Ether ETFs could be greenlighted to start staking as soon as May, but the process may take months longer. 

However, investors’ demand for altcoin ETFs may be weaker than for funds holding core cryptocurrencies, Katalin Tischhauser, crypto bank Sygnum’s research head, told Cointelegraph in August.

“[T]here is all this frothy excitement in the market about these ETFs coming, and no one can point to where substantial demand is going to come from,” Tischhauser told Cointelegraph. 

Volatility Shares’ SOL futures ETF has roughly $5 million in net assets. Source: Volatility Shares

In March, asset manager Volatility Shares launched the first ETFs to track Solana’s performance using financial derivatives. 

Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) has seen a lukewarm reception, attracting only around $5 million in net assets as of April 14, according to its website. 

“FWIW, the 2 solana ETFs in US (which track futures so not a perfect guinea pig) haven’t done much. Very little in aum. The 2x XRP already has more aum than both the solana ETFs and it came out after,” Balchunas said. 

Balchunas added that he “[w]ouldn’t read a ton into it” as a predictor for spot SOL ETFs. 

Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6–12

Update (April 14 at 10:37 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include Anchorage’s response.

The US Department of Homeland Security’s El Dorado Task Force has reportedly launched an investigation into Anchorage Digital Bank, a Wall Street-backed cryptocurrency firm. 

According to an April 14 Barron’s report, members of the task force have contacted former employees of the company over the past weeks to examine its practices and policies. The report cites unidentified sources. 

The reported Homeland task force probe hints at cross-national financial activities. Established in 1992, the El Dorado Task Force focuses on “transnational money laundering” activities and financial crimes carried out by organizations. 

Anchorage is co-founded by Portuguese-American entrepreneur Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley, according to its website. Along with its US businesses, Anchorage has operations in Singapore and Portugal. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs and Visa, among others. 

In a statement to Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for Anchorage refuted the report. “The Barron’s piece on our company was based on speculation,” they said, adding that “[Barron’s] had no information about the nature of the inquiry nor its targets, both of which are currently unspecified. We will, of course, fully cooperate with any legitimate inquiry that materializes.”

Anchorage Digital is the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. It received its national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in January 2021. 

Despite its advanced regulatory position, Anchorage Digital has faced regulatory challenges in the US. In April 2022, the OCC issued a consent order against the bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs. At the time, the company was ordered to establish a committee to address the alleged issues under the oversight of the OCC.

Anchorage’s crypto footprint

Anchorage was founded in 2017, and since then has been expanding its crypto footprint with services for institutional clients. The company is a custodian of BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) alongside Coinbase and BitGo. BlackRock’s BTC funds have attracted over $35.5 billion in cumulative inflows since its launch in January 2024. 

Another of Anchorage’s clients is Cantor Fitzgerald. The company has offered custody and collateral management for Cantor’s Bitcoin holdings since March 2025. Anchorage reported over $50 billion in assets under management in 2024. 

Among Anchorage’s custody competitors are players such as Ripple, Kraken, Taurus and Fireblocks, but the storage of digital assets has also attracted traditional financial institutions to the crypto field. HSBC, Citi and BNY Mellon — America’s oldest bank — are also competing to safeguard crypto assets for institutional clients. 

According to Fireblocks’ Adam Levine, senior vice president of corporate development, the US market lacks qualified custodians for digital assets. “[…] there are limited options for certain market participants to keep their digital assets in safe keeping via a qualified custodian,” Levine told Cointelegraph in a previous interview.

A 2025 survey by EY reveals that 59% of institutional investors plan to allocate over 5% of their assets under management to cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing demand for institutional-grade custody services.

Institutional investors are expected to increase crypto allocations in 2025. Source: EY

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

The US Department of Homeland Security’s El Dorado Task Force has reportedly launched an investigation into Anchorage Digital Bank, a Wall Street-backed cryptocurrency firm. 

According to an April 14 Barron’s report, members of the task force have contacted former employees of the company over the past weeks to examine its practices and policies. Citing unidentified sources, the report claims the probe looks at potential financial crimes within Anchorage. 

The reported Homeland task force probe hints at cross-national financial activities. Established in 1992, the El Dorado Task Force focuses on “transnational money laundering” activities and financial crimes carried out by organizations. 

Anchorage is co-founded by Portuguese-American entrepreneur Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley, according to its website. Along with its US businesses, Anchorage has operations in Singapore and Portugal. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs and Visa, among others. 

Anchorage Digital is the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. It received its national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in January 2021. 

Despite its advanced regulatory position, Anchorage Digital has faced regulatory challenges in the US. In April 2022, the OCC issued a consent order against the bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs. At the time, the company was ordered to establish a committee to address the alleged issues under the oversight of the OCC.

Cointelegraph reached out to Anchorage for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication. 

Anchorage’s crypto footprint

Anchorage was founded in 2017, and since then has been expanding its crypto footprint with services for institutional clients. The company is a custodian of BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) alongside Coinbase and BitGo. BlackRock’s BTC funds have attracted over $35.5 billion in cumulative inflows since its launch in January 2024. 

Another of Anchorage’s clients is Cantor Fitzgerald. The company has offered custody and collateral management for Cantor’s Bitcoin holdings since March 2025. Anchorage reported over $50 billion in assets under management in 2024. 

Among Anchorage’s custody competitors are players such as Ripple, Kraken, Taurus and Fireblocks, but the storage of digital assets has also attracted traditional financial institutions to the crypto field. HSBC, Citi and BNY Mellon — America’s oldest bank — are also competing to safeguard crypto assets for institutional clients. 

According to Fireblocks’ Adam Levine, senior vice president of corporate development, the US market lacks qualified custodians for digital assets. “[…] there are limited options for certain market participants to keep their digital assets in safe keeping via a qualified custodian,” Levine told Cointelegraph in a previous interview.

A 2025 survey by EY reveals that 59% of institutional investors plan to allocate over 5% of their assets under management to cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing demand for institutional-grade custody services.

Institutional investors are expected to increase crypto allocations in 2025. Source: EY

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed a decision on whether to approve Ether staking in two Grayscale funds.

The decision on Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF has been postponed until June 1, according to an April 14 announcement from the SEC. The deadline for a decision is the end of October.

On Feb. 14, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a proposed rule change on behalf of Grayscale that would permit investors in the company’s Ether (ETH) ETFs to stake their holdings.

Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a wallet to support the operations and security of a blockchain network, offering stakers rewards in return. The feature is considered a potentially integral part of Ether ETFs, as it could generate yield to investors, increasing the attractiveness of the funds.

SEC’s announcement of the delay. Source: SEC

Annual yield on staked Ether is estimated at 2.4% on Coinbase, while on Kraken, another US-based exchange, it ranges from 2% to 7%. According to Sosovalue, Ether ETFs have had a cumulative net inflow of $2.28 billion since their launch in 2024.

The race for staking on Ether ETFs includes other asset managers, including BlackRock’s 21Shares iShares Ethereum Trust. The company sought permission to offer staking services in February and is currently waiting for the agency approval.

SEC approves options for multiple spot Ether ETFs

Despite the delay on staking filings, the SEC is moving forward with regulatory requests surrounding crypto ETFs.

On April 9, the agency approved options trading for multiple spot Ether ETFs, allowing the derivates feature on funds from BlackRock, Bitwise and Grayscale’s ETFs.

Options trading involves the right to buy and sell contracts that give the investors the right but not the obligation to buy an asset at a certain price. The approval broadens the funds utility for institutional investors.

The efforts to expand the appeal of Ether ETFs reflect the lack of adoption in contrast with Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs launched in January 2024. While the Ether ETFs amassed a net cumulative inflow of $2.2 billion as of April 11, Bitcoin funds flows topped $35.4 billion, according to Sosovalue.

Ether has also had a rough time during this bull market compared to other assets like XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL). The asset’s 52-week high of $4,112 did not surpass its November 2021 peak all-time-high value of $4,866. The token is trading below the $2,000 mark on April 14.

Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation

Mantra CEO John Mullin addressed key concerns from the community following the sharp decline in the OM token during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14.

Mullin reassured users that Mantra and its partners are actively working to support the recovery of the Mantra (OM) token, though he noted that details around token buybacks and potential burns are still being developed.

“We’re still in the early stages of putting together this plan for potential buyback of tokens,” the CEO said, adding that the OM token recovery is Mantra’s “preeminent and primary concern right now.”

At the time of writing, OM traded at $0.73, slightly higher than its post-collapse low of $0.52 recorded on April 13 at around 7:30 pm UTC, according to data from CoinGecko.

“Baseless allegations”

In addition to denying reports claiming that key Mantra investors dumped the OM token pre-crash, the Mantra CEO also denied allegations that the Mantra team controls 90% of the token’s supply.

“I think it’s baseless. We posted a community transparency report last week, and it shows all the different wallets,” Mullin said, highlighting the “two sides” of Mantra’s tokenomics.

Source: Cointelegraph

“You have the Ethereum side and you have the mainnet side,” Mullin noted, adding the Ethereum-based token is hard capped and has been around since August 2020. 

“The biggest holder of OM on exchange is Binance,” Mullin continued, referring the public to Etherscan records.

The top eight addresses of OM holdings. Source: Etherscan

However, the top OM wallet is currently held by crypto exchange OKX, which controls 14% of the circulating supply, or roughly 130 million tokens.

What’s next for Mantra’s $109-million MEF fund?

Mullin also addressed the Mantra Ecosystem Fund (MEF), a $109-million fund launched on April 7 in collaboration with its major strategic investors, including Laser Digital and Shorooq.

Other investors in the fund also included Brevan Howard Digital, Valor Capital, Three Point Capital, Amber Group, Manifold, UoB Venture, Damac, Fuse, LVNA Capital, Forte and others.

Related: Mantra bounces 200% after OM price crash but poses LUNA-like ‘big scandal’ risk

According to Mullin, the fund does not solely consist of Mantra’s OM token and has “dollar commitments and dollar contributions.”

Investors in Mantra’s $109-million fund. Source: Mantra

“We’ll continue to invest and support the ecosystem as part of this recovery plan,” the CEO stated.

End of the staking program on Binance

In the AMA, the Mantra CEO also said that a 38-million-OM transaction to the Binance cold wallet on April 14 is related to a staking program on Binance.

“It was actually Binance,” Mullin said, adding that Binance had OM tokens on its exchange that it was using as a staking program.

Source: Onchain Lens

“So, they just returned them because the staking program ended,” he said.

Mullin also emphasized that many of the transactions that caught the community’s reactions post-crash involved collaterals by an unnamed exchange.

“Effectively, those tokens were being used as collateral on an exchange. Then, the exchange decided that it was not the position they wanted to maintain anymore, for whatever reason,” Mullin said, adding:

“So, what happened was basically the positions were taken over by the exchange that took the collateral and started selling, which caused a cascade of sell pressure and forced more liquidations.”

Mullin said Mantra remains committed to addressing the situation as transparently as possible.

“We’re not running from anything,” he said, adding that the incident was a “very unfortunate situation.”

Magazine: Bitcoin eyes $100K by June, Shaq to settle NFT lawsuit, and more: Hodler’s Digest, April 6–12