Gracy Chen, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, criticized Hyperliquid’s handling of a March 26 incident on its perpetual exchange, saying it put the network at risk of becoming “FTX 2.0.”

On March 26, Hyperliquid, a blockchain network specializing in trading, said it delisted perpetual futures contracts for the JELLY token and would reimburse users after identifying “evidence of suspicious market activity” tied to the instruments. 

The decision, which was reached by consensus among Hyperliquid’s relatively small number of validators, flagged existing concerns about the popular network’s perceived centralization.

“Despite presenting itself as an innovative decentralized exchange with a bold vision, Hyperliquid operates more like an offshore [centralized exchange],” Chen said, after saying “Hyperliquid may be on track to become FTX 2.0.”

FTX was a cryptocurrency exchange run by Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud in the US after FTX’s abrupt collapse in 2022. 

Chen did not accuse Hyperliquid of specific legal infractions, instead emphasizing what she considered to be Hyperliquid’s “immature, unethical, and unprofessional” response to the event.

“The decision to close the $JELLY market and force settlement of positions at a favorable price sets a dangerous precedent,” Chen said. “Trust—not capital—is the foundation of any exchange […] and once lost, it’s almost impossible to recover.”

Source: Gracy Chen

Related: Hyperliquid delists JELLY perps, citing ‘suspicious’ activity

JELLY incident

The JELLY token was launched in January by Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail as part of a Web3 social media project dubbed JellyJelly. 

It initially reached a market capitalization of roughly $250 million before falling to the single digit millions in the ensuing weeks, according to DexScreener. 

On March 26, JELLY’s market cap soared to around $25 million after Binance, the world’s most popular crypto exchange, launched its own perpetual futures tied to the token. 

The same day, a Hyperliquid trader “opened a massive $6M short position on JellyJelly” and then “deliberately self-liquidated by pumping JellyJelly’s price on-chain,” Abhi, founder of Web3 company AP Collective, said in an X post.

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes said initial reactions to Hyperliquid’s JELLY incident overestimated the network’s potential reputational risks.

“Let’s stop pretending hyperliquid is decentralised. And then stop pretending traders actually [care],” Hayes said in an X post. “Bet you $HYPE is back where [it] started in short order cause degens gonna degen.”

Binance launched JELLY perps on March 26. Source: Binance

Growing pains

On March 12, Hyperliquid grappled with a similar crisis caused by a whale who intentionally liquidated a roughly $200 million long Ether (ETH) position. 

The trade cost depositors into Hyperliquid’s liquidity pool, HLP, roughly $4 million in losses after forcing the pool to unwind the trade at unfavorable prices. Since then, Hyperliquid has increased collateral requirements for open positions to “reduce the systemic impact of large positions with hypothetical market impact upon closing.” 

Hyperliquid operates the most popular leveraged perpetuals trading platform, controlling roughly 70% of market share, according to a January report by asset manager VanEck. 

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are leveraged futures contracts with no expiry date. Traders deposit margin collateral, such as USDC, to secure open positions.

According to L2Beat, Hyperliquid has two main validator sets, each comprising four validators. By comparison, rival chains such as Solana and Ethereum are supported by approximately 1,000 and 1 million validators, respectively. 

More validators generally lessen the risk of a small group of insiders manipulating a blockchain. 

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

Despite strong institutional demand, Bitcoin (BTC) has struggled to reclaim the $100,000 level for the past 50 days, leading investors to question the reasons behind the bearishness despite a seemingly positive environment. 

This price weakness is particularly intriguing given the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order issued by President Donald Trump on March 6, which allows BTC acquisitions as long as they follow “budget-neutral” strategies.

Bitcoin fails to keep up with gold’s returns despite positive news flow

On March 26, GameStop Corporation (GME), the North American video game and consumer electronics retailer, announced plans to allocate a portion of its corporate reserves to Bitcoin. The company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2021, successfully capitalized on a historic short squeeze and managed to secure an impressive $4.77 billion in cash and equivalents by February 2025.

Largest corporate Bitcoin holdings. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

A growing number of US-based and international companies have followed Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) playbook, including the Japanese firm Metaplanet, which recently appointed Eric Trump, son of US President Donald Trump, to its newly established strategic board of advisers. Similarly, the mining conglomerate MARA Holdings (MARA) adopted a Bitcoin treasury policy to “retain all BTC” and increase its exposure through debt offerings.

There must be a strong reason for Bitcoin investors to sell their holdings, especially as gold is trading just 1.3% below its all-time high of $3,057. For example, while the US administration adopted a pro-crypto stance following Trump’s election, the infrastructure needed for Bitcoin to serve as collateral and integrate into traditional financial systems remains largely undeveloped.

Bitcoin/USD (orange) vs. gold / S&P 500 index. Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph

The US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is limited to cash settlement, preventing in-kind deposits and withdrawals. Fortunately, a potential rule change, currently under review by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, could reduce capital gain distributions and enhance tax efficiency, according to Bitseeker Consulting chief architect Chris J. Terry.

Regulation and Bitcoin integration into TradFi remains an issue 

Banks like JPMorgan primarily serve as intermediaries or custodians for cryptocurrency-related instruments such as derivatives and spot Bitcoin ETFs. The repeal of the SAB 121 accounting rule on Jan. 23—an SEC ruling that imposed strict capital requirements on digital assets—does not necessarily guarantee broader adoption.

For example, some traditional investment firms, like Vanguard, still prohibit clients from trading or holding shares of the spot Bitcoin ETFs, while administrators like BNY Mellon have reportedly restricted mutual funds’ exposure to these products. In fact, a significant number of wealth managers and advisers remain unable to offer any cryptocurrency investments to their clients, even when listed on US exchanges.

The Bitcoin derivatives market lacks regulatory clarity, with most exchanges opting to ban North American participants and choosing to register their companies in fiscal havens. Despite the growth of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) over the years, it still accounts for only 23% of Bitcoin’s $56.4 billion futures open interest, while competitors benefit from fewer capital restrictions, easier client onboarding, and less regulatory oversight on trading.

Related: SEC plans 4 more crypto roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, DeFi

Bitcoin futures open interest ranking, USD. Source: CoinGlass

Institutional investors remain hesitant to gain exposure to Bitcoin markets due to concerns about market manipulation and a lack of transparency among leading exchanges. The fact that Binance, KuCoin, OK and Kraken have paid significant fines to US authorities for potential anti-money laundering violations and unlicensed operations further fuels the negative sentiment toward the sector.

Ultimately, the buying interest from a small number of companies is not enough to push Bitcoin’s price to $200,000, and additional integration with the banking sector remains uncertain, despite more favorable regulatory conditions. 

Until then, Bitcoin’s upside potential will continue to be limited as risk perception remains elevated, especially within the institutional investment community.

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.

Stablecoin issuers should be restricted from providing yield-bearing opportunities to protect the legacy banking system, which issues home mortgages and small business loans, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said at a summit in Washington, DC.

Speaking at the 2025 DC Blockchain Summit on March 26, the Democratic senator from New York praised her state for having some of the most robust financial regulations in the world, and said they should be adopted by all financial services sectors.

According to Gillibrand, these regulations need to be applied to stablecoin issuers, whether they are regulated at the state or federal levels, to ensure compliance with existing laws and to protect consumer safety. Gillibrand then turned her attention to protecting the banking industry:

“Do you want a stablecoin issuer to be able to issue interest, probably not, because if they are issuing interest, there is no reason to put your money in a local bank. If there is no reason to put your money in a local bank, who is going to give you a mortgage?

“If there is no deposit, small banks cannot do that anymore; it will collapse the financial services system that people rely on for their businesses and mortgages,” Gillibrand continued.

Senator Gillibrand speaking at a panel during the DC Blockchain Summit. Source: DC Blockchain Summit

Related: US stablecoin bill likely in ‘next 2 months’ — Trump’s crypto council head

Gillibrand is a co-sponsor of the GENIUS stablecoin legislation — a bill introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty in February that would establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital fiat tokens.

On March 10, Hagerty updated the bill to include stricter anti-money laundering provisions, Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, financial transparency regulations, and consumer protection controls.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the GENIUS bill in an 18-6 vote on March 13. The bill must clear both chambers of Congress in floor votes before it hits US President Donald Trump’s desk for signing.

The GENIUS Act of 2025. Source: United States Senate

Critics of the GENIUS stablecoin bill say the legislation is a thinly veiled attempt to establish a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States through privatized means.

Jean Rausis, co-founder of the decentralized trading platform Smardex, argued that centralized stablecoins provide avenues for financial censorship and state surveillance that could culminate in the government’s ability to turn off money or lock individuals out of the financial system.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Update (March 26 at 8:48 PM UTC): This article has been updated to include commentary from Benchmark stock analyst Mark Palmer.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining stocks are down after tech giant Microsoft reportedly scrapped plans to invest in new artificial intelligence data centers in the US and Europe, citing a potential oversupply, according to a report by Bloomberg and data from Google Finance.

Shares of crypto miners Bitfarms, CleanSpark, Core Scientific, Hut 8, Marathon Digital and Riot dropped between 4% and 12% in tandem with the news, the data showed.

The stock price retrenchments highlight cryptocurrency miners’ increased dependence on business from artificial intelligence models after the Bitcoin network’s April 2024 “halving” cut into mining revenues.

According to Benchmark stock analyst Mark Palmer, investors already anticipated Microsoft’s data center cuts.

In his view, the share price pullback “appears to be driven more by stagnation in the price of bitcoin than any other factor, potentially combined with investor fatigue settling over the space as mining difficulty remains near record levels,” Palmer told Cointelegraph.

CORZ intraday performance on the Nasdaq. Source: Google Finance

Miners are “diversifying into AI data-center hosting as a way to expand revenue and repurpose existing infrastructure for high-performance computing,” Coin Metrics said in a March report.

For example, in June 2024, Core Scientific pledged 200 megawatts of hardware capacity to support CoreWeave’s artificial intelligence workloads.

In August 2024, asset manager VanEck said Bitcoin mining stocks could collectively see a roughly $37 billion bump to market capitalizations if they invest heavily in supporting AI.

Nevertheless, miners have struggled this year as declining crypto prices worsen pressures on businesses already impacted by April’s halving, JPMorgan said in March. Waning demand for AI data centers could add further strain.

Bitcoin miners could see gains in valuation from pivoting to AI. Source: VanEck

Related: Bet more on the Bitcoin miners cashing in on AI

Cutting back on compute

On March 26, analysts at TD Cowen said Microsoft had abandoned plans to build several new data centers that would have generated some 2 gigawatts of power, according to Bloomberg. 

The analysts reportedly attributed Microsoft’s pullback to a perceived oversupply of computing capacity for AI models, as well as the tech giant’s decision to forgo some planned collaborations with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. 

In the past six months, Microsoft has canceled various data center leases and delayed plans to onboard more capacity, according to Bloomberg. 

Microsoft’s data center investments are expected to slow further in the second half of 2025 as the company finishes $80 billion in planned buildouts and pivots to outfitting existing centers with hardware and equipment, Bloomberg said. 

Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge

Ether (ETH) price reclaimed the $2,000 support on March 24 but remains 18% below the $2,500 level seen three weeks ago. Data shows Ether has underperformed the altcoin market by 14% over the past 30 days, leading traders to question whether the altcoin can regain bullish momentum and which factors might drive a trend reversal.

Ether/USD (left) vs. total altcoin capitalization, USD (right). Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph

Ether appears well-positioned to attract institutional demand and significantly reduce the FUD that has limited its upside potential. Critics have long argued that the Ethereum ecosystem lags behind competitors in overall user experience and still offers limited base-layer scalability, which has negatively impacted network fees and transaction efficiency. 

Will the Ethereum Pectra upgrade impact ETH price?

Many of the Ethereum network’s challenges are expected to be addressed in the upcoming Pectra network upgrade, scheduled for late April or early June. Among the proposed changes is a doubling of the data that can be included in each block, which should help lower fees for rollups and privacy-focused mechanisms.

Additionally, the cost of call data will increase, encouraging developers to adopt blobs—a more efficient method for data storage.

Another notable improvement in the upcoming upgrade is the introduction of smart accounts, which allow wallets to function like smart contracts during transactions. This enables gas fee sponsorship, passkey authentication, and batch transactions.

Additionally, several other enhancements focus on optimizing staking deposits and withdrawals, providing greater flexibility, and extending block history for smart contracts that rely on past data.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, set a $5,000 price target for ETH on March 25, stating that it should significantly outperform competitor Solana (SOL).

Source: CryptoHayes

Regardless of the rationale behind Arthur’s price prediction, ETH options traders do not share the same bullish sentiment. The Sept. 26 call (buy) option with a $5,000 strike price costs only $35.40, implying extremely low odds.

However, Ethereum remains the undisputed leader in smart contract deposits and is the only altcoin with a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, currently holding $8.9 billion in assets under management.

Ethereum TVL growth and reduced ETH supply on exchanges

Ethereum’s network boasts a total value locked (TVL) of $52.5 billion, significantly surpassing Solana’s $7 billion. More importantly, deposits on the Ethereum network grew 10% over the past 30 days, reaching 25.4 million ETH, while Solana saw an 8% decline over the same period.

Notable highlights on Ethereum include Sky (formerly Maker), which saw a 17% increase in deposits, and Ethena, whose TVL surged by 38% in 30 days.

Ether balance on exchanges, ETH. Source: Glassnode

The Ether supply on exchanges stood at 16.9 million ETH on March 25, just 3.5% above its five-year low of 16.32 million ETH, according to Glassnode data. This trend suggests that investors are withdrawing from exchanges, signaling a long-term capital commitment.

Similarly, flows into spot Ether ETFs remained relatively muted on March 24 and March 25, in contrast to the $316 million in net outflows accumulated since March 10.

Related: Ethereum devs prepare final Pectra test before mainnet launch

Lastly, the Ethereum network is gaining momentum in the Real World Asset (RWA) industry, particularly after the BlackRock BUILD fund surpassed $1.5 billion in capitalization.

The Ethereum ecosystem, including its layer-2 scalability solutions, accounts for over 80% of this market, according to RWA.XYZ data, underscoring Ethereum’s dominance in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Ether’s price drop below $1,900 on March 10 likely reflected overly bearish expectations. However, the tide appears to have turned as the Ethereum network demonstrated resilience, and traders continued to withdraw from exchanges, setting the stage for a potential rally toward $2,500.

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.

Interactive Brokers, a global brokerage that recorded $9.3 billion in revenue for 2024, is expanding its altcoin offerings to include four new tokens.

According to a March 26 announcement, the platform has added Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), XRP (XRP) and Dogecoin (DOGE) for trading. The four coins have a combined market capitalization of $267.2 billion at this writing.

The additions double Interactive’s crypto offerings to traders. Since 2021, it has enabled trading in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) pairs. Both trading and custody services will be provided through Paxos Trust or Zero Hash. Zero Hash said in a press release that as of June 2024, it had processed $20 billion in transactions across 200 countries.

Financial firms have been expanding crypto token offerings. On March 25, Nubank announced the addition of ADA, Near Protocol (NEAR), Cosmos (ATOM), and Algorand (ALGO) to its over 100 million clients in Latin America. US exchange Kraken has been steadily adding memecoins for several months, while Binance introduced a way for community members to vote on the listing and delisting of tokens.

Amid an increasingly competitive crypto market, Interactive Brokers is promising low transaction fees — 0.12% to 0.18% per transaction value with a minimum of $1.75 per trade. The brokerage still faces competition from exchanges that offer “pro” platforms with similar charges.

Related: CZ admits Binance token listing process is flawed, needs reform

Crypto markets see more regulation, more adoption

Companies’ moves to expand crypto offerings come amid a broader shift in how nation-states engage with the industry — moving toward collaboration rather than suppression. The European Union’s MiCA regulation has delivered a clearer framework for crypto companies operating in that region, while the United States has been betting on the use of stablecoins to preserve the dollar global dominance.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped cases against a number of crypto companies, and the US Congress is currently working on stablecoin and market structure legislation.

Although crypto markets have recently experienced turbulence due to uncertainty surrounding US tariffs and fears of recession, institutional investors still appear optimistic about crypto investments. Since debuting in January 2024, Bitcoin exchange traded-funds have attracted a cumulative net inflow of $36 billion, according to SoSoValue.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Crypto and blockchain-focused venture capital is unfazed by recent market volatility and is using the opportunity to uncover hidden gems in an industry that’s only “one decade into a 30-year paradigm shift,” according to Hoolie Tejwani, the head of VC firm Coinbase Ventures. 

Coinbase Ventures will “continue to invest steadily through market conditions” because it sees the “big picture,” Tejwani told Cointelegraph in an interview.

“What we’re seeing as investors is an exponential technology change curve that is transforming the way people interact, how value flows, and how economies are run. And it’s being shaped by the people who are building on crypto infrastructure,” said Tejwani.

Coinbase Ventures’ portfolio of investments includes Arbitrum, Dune, EigenLayer, Etherscan, OpenSea, Optimism and Uniswap, among others. Its mandate is to invest in project founders who share the namesake crypto exchange’s vision of creating more economic freedom through blockchain and Web3 applications.

The company is especially “bullish on stablecoins,” thanks in part to recent crypto-friendly moves in the US Congress and by President Donald Trump, Tejwani said. 

The Senate Banking Committee forwarding a bill to regulate [stablecoins] “is a huge step for crypto,” he said, referring to the GENIUS Act, which stands for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins.

The GENIUS Act is on its way to the full Senate after clearing the banking committee in an 18-6 vote. Source: Bill Hagerty

Although there was some partisan opposition, California Representative Ro Khanna recently said at least 70 of his fellow Democrats now understand the importance of stablecoins in maintaining the US dollar’s role as a global reserve currency. 

Khanna, like others, expects stablecoin legislation to cross the finish line this year.

The dollar-denominated stablecoin market now exceeds $220 billion, representing roughly 1.1% of the US M2 money supply. Source: RWA.xyz

Related: US stablecoin bill likely in ‘next 2 months’ — Trump’s crypto council head

DeFi, consumer applications remain in focus

In addition to stablecoins, Tejwani identified “next-generation” decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, onchain consumer applications across social, gaming and creator markets, and intersection points between crypto and AI as major investment themes in 2025.

Some of these themes were also identified by Jeffrey Hu, the head of investment research at Hong Kong-based HashKey Capital, although HashKey is placing a bigger emphasis on tokenizing real-world assets and decentralized physical infrastructure networks, also known as DePINs. 

Nevertheless, Tejwani and Hu agree that institutional adoption and real-world use cases represent the major focus areas for venture capital firms. 

“We expect 2025 to be a banner year for crypto startup activity and VC investment, fueled by clearer regulations, institutional adoption, and the continued growth of real-world use cases,” said Tejwani.

Business service providers, DeFi, security services and payments attracted the largest VC capital in February. Source: The TIE

Tejwani’s outlook on 2025 is consistent with recent inflows into crypto-based startups. As Cointelegraph reported, crypto and blockchain projects received a combined $1.1 billion in funding in February alone.

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

Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who was held in Nigeria for eight months in 2024 facing tax and money laundering charges, provided additional details about his experience and what led to his release.

Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26, Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance, said the Nigerian government had held him hostage, suggesting the criminal charges were a pretext to “get something” from Binance. According to the Binance executive, he saw signs suggesting he could be released “around a month” before he was returned to the US.

“It was around the time of the [United Nations] General Assembly in 2024 happened is when that pressure really ramped up against the Nigerian government, and it realized that I was more of a liability,” said Gambaryan. “Before that, they kinda saw me as an asset they could use to get their billions out of Binance.”

Tigran Gambaryan speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26. Source: Rumble

Since his handover to US authorities in October, Gambaryan has made few public statements concerning his detention and release. The Binance executive’s family and reports from Nigeria suggested that his health deteriorated after he was initially placed into custody in February, including issues from pneumonia, malaria, and a herniated disc.

From arrest to release 

Gambaryan and Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla flew into Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja on Feb. 25 to discuss the crypto exchange’s activities. Nigerian authorities had reportedly been scrutinizing “suspicious flows” through Binance’s local arm and detained both men on Feb. 26.

While Gambaryan was being held, Binance announced it would discontinue services using the Nigerian naira, effectively exiting the country’s market. Nigeria’s Economic Financial Crime Commission later charged the two executives with money laundering, to which Gambaryan pleaded not guilty.

Related: Binance suspends staffer after internal investigation into insider trading

He was denied bail and sent to Kuje Prison, where his family reported he began suffering from health problems — a video released in September showed Gambaryan struggling to walk to court, prompting outrage from many supporters. After numerous calls from lawmakers and government officials for his release and delays in court, Gambaryan was returned to the United States on Oct. 23.

“Hopefully, those that did this will one day face justice,” said Gambaryan at the DC Blockchain Summit, referring to Nigerian authorities.

A March 13 statement that appeared to be from Nigeria’s Ministry of Information claimed Gambaryan’s description of his detention was “baseless” and “without merit.” Cointelegraph reached out to Nigerian officials for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’

Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who was held in Nigeria for eight months in 2024 on tax and money laundering charges, provided additional details about his experience and what led to his release.

Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26, Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance said the Nigerian government had held him hostage, suggesting the criminal charges were a pretext to “get something” from Binance. Gambaryan said he saw signs suggesting he could be released “around a month” before he was returned to the US.

“It was around the time the [United Nations] General Assembly in 2024 happened is when that pressure really ramped up against the Nigerian government, and it realized that I was more of a liability,” said Gambaryan. “Before that, they kinda saw me as an asset they could use to get their billions out of Binance.”

Tigran Gambaryan speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26. Source: Rumble

Since his return to the US in October 2024, Gambaryan has made few public statements concerning his detention and release. The Binance executive’s family and reports from Nigeria suggested that his health deteriorated after he was initially placed into custody in February that year, including issues from pneumonia, malaria, and a herniated disc.

From arrest to release 

Gambaryan and Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla flew into Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja on Feb. 25 to discuss the crypto exchange’s activities. Nigerian authorities had reportedly been scrutinizing “suspicious flows” through Binance’s local arm and detained both on Feb. 26.

While Gambaryan was being held, Binance announced it would discontinue services using the Nigerian naira, effectively exiting the country’s market. Nigeria’s Economic Financial Crime Commission later charged the two executives with money laundering, to which Gambaryan pleaded not guilty.

Related: Binance suspends staffer after internal investigation into insider trading

He was denied bail and sent to Kuje Prison, where his family reported he began suffering from health problems — a video released in September showed Gambaryan struggling to walk to court, prompting outrage from many supporters. After numerous calls from lawmakers and government officials for his release and delays in court, Gambaryan was returned to the United States on Oct. 23.

“Hopefully, those that did this will one day face justice,” said Gambaryan at the DC Blockchain Summit, referring to Nigerian authorities.

A March 13 statement that appeared to be from Nigeria’s Ministry of Information claimed Gambaryan’s description of his detention was “baseless” and “without merit.” Cointelegraph reached out to Nigerian officials for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’

Hyperliquid is delisting perpetual futures tied to the JELLY token after identifying “evidence of suspicious market activity” involving the trading instruments, the blockchain network said. 

The Hyper Foundation, Hyperliquid’s ecosystem nonprofit, will reimburse most affected users for any losses related to the incident, Hyperliquid said in a March 26 post on the X platform.

“All users apart from flagged addresses will be made whole from the Hyper Foundation,” Hyperliquid said. “This will be done automatically in the coming days based on onchain data.” 

Hyerliquid added that the perpetuals exchange’s primary liquidity pool, HLP, has clocked a positive net income of around $700,000 in the past 24 hours. 

This incident is the latest to highlight Hyperliquid’s growing pains as it becomes Web3’s most popular platform for leveraged perpetual trading. 

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are leveraged futures contracts with no expiry date. Traders deposit margin collateral, such as USDC (USDC), to secure open positions. 

Source: Hyperliquid

Related: Hyperliquid’s mystery 50x ETH whale is now betting on LINK

Jelly’s volatile performance

In January, Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail launched the JELLY token as part of a Web3 social media project dubbed JellyJelly.

The JELLY token initially soared to a market capitalization of approximately $250 million before retreating to lows in the single-digit millions, according to data from DexScreener. 

It trades at a market cap of roughly $25 million as of March 26, the data shows. 

The incident began when a trader “opened a massive $6M short position on JellyJelly” and then “deliberately self-liquidated by pumping JellyJelly’s price on-chain,” Abhi, founder of Web3 company AP Collective, said in an X post. 

Had Hyperliquid not closed the position, the perpetuals exchange could have faced “full liquidation if JellyJelly reaches $150M mcap,” Abhi added. 

On March 14, Hyperliquid increased margin requirements for traders after its liquidity pool lost millions of dollars during a massive Ether (ETH) liquidation.

Two days prior, a whale trader intentionally liquidated a roughly $200 million ETH long position, causing HLP to lose $4 million while unwinding the trade. 

Since March 15, Hyperliquid has required traders to maintain a collateral margin of at least 20% on certain open positions to “reduce the systemic impact of large positions with hypothetical market impact upon closing.”

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions