Investors’ stablecoin positioning on the Solana network and a key technical chart pattern threaten more volatility for the Solana token, which may see a decisive moment for its price action.

Solana’s transport layer saw “extreme” volatility in trading the Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin, which may indicate that traders are repositioning in search of new investment opportunities.

USDT trading on Solana’s transport layer saw an over 137% surge during the last week of February, after seeing a 61% plunge during the previous week, according to a report by global payments infrastructure platform Mercuryo, shared with Cointelegraph.

The stablecoin trading spikes show an unparalleled level of trading activity that may signal more volatility for the Solana (SOL) token, according to Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of Mercuryo.

The “frenetic activity” may “indicate that the chain is prone to be more volatile,” the CEO told Cointelegraph, adding:

“However, Solana’s inherent strengths – fast transaction processing, high scalability, and an active trading ecosystem – may also be factors. This is against a backdrop of an ecosystem attracting at times high trading volumes.”

“Notably, DEX’s on Solana, such as Jupiter and Raydium, have ignited significant interest,” he added.

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Meanwhile, a key emerging technical chart pattern may be decisive for Solana’s price action in the near term.

Source: Trader Tardigrade

“Solana Heikin Ashi hourly chart shows a Converging Triangle. Both bullish or bearish moves are possible,” wrote pseudonymous crypto analyst Trader Tardigrade in a March 19 X post.

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Memecoins, FTX repayments may be limiting SOL price

While some analysts suggest that the current memecoin frenzy has been siphoning liquidity from the Solana token, multiple other factors are influencing SOL’s price action.

Notably, the incoming repayments from bankrupt FTX exchange may limit Solana’s price action, explained Kozyakov, adding:

“The defunct FTX exchange has set up a repayment plan that involves distributing a large amount of SOL tokens to creditors, which can potentially result in selling pressure.”

FTX and Alameda Research-linked wallets unstaked $431 million of SOL tokens on March 4, marking the biggest SOL token unlock since November 2023, Cointelegraph reported.

Although FTX and Alameda unlocked more than $400 million in SOL, the firms may not be able to sell all the tokens in a single transaction. In September 2023, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved FTX’s plan to sell digital assets, imposing strict limits on liquidation amounts.

Under the court ruling, the bankrupt exchange can sell digital assets weekly through an investment adviser, with an initial limit of $50 million in the first week and $100 million in subsequent weeks. If FTX seeks to sell more, it must request court approval to raise the limit to $200 million per week.

FTX’s next round of repayments will take place on May 30. Under FTX’s recovery plan, 98% of creditors are expected to receive at least 118% of their claim value in cash. In May 2024, the exchange estimated the distribution’s total value to range between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion.

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The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) published a report explaining how artificial intelligence and crypto affected organized crime. 

In a threat assessment report on serious and organized crime, Europol stated that AI and crypto play a role in criminal efficiency. The law enforcement organization said criminal networks have demonstrated an ability to rapidly adapt to new technology. 

The report said AI’s transformative qualities make it an attractive tool for criminals. The report said that generative AI had “lowered the barriers to entry” for digital crimes. 

The government agency said AI lets criminals craft messages in multiple languages, targeting victims more precisely and globally. It also allowed malicious actors to create malware and child sexual abuse material. 

How AI and crypto drive criminal efficiency

Europol also stated that AI’s automation capabilities have been transforming the efficiency of criminal operations. The government agency said criminals can automate their phishing campaigns using AI. Because of this, malicious actors can reach more victims with large-scale cyberattacks. 

Europol said in the report that realistic synthetic media allows criminals to deceive victims, impersonate individuals and blackmail their targets. The organization wrote: 

“The addition of AI-powered voice cloning and live video deepfakes amplifies the threat, enabling new forms of fraud, extortion, and identity theft.”

On Feb. 13, Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said that generative AI is “amplifying scams.” The analytics company said AI is making scams more affordable and more scalable. Chainalysis’ head of fraud products, Elad Fouk, said AI facilitates the creation of fake identities, allowing fraudsters to impersonate real users.

Apart from AI, the report also noted how blockchain-based technologies like cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have moved beyond cybercrime and are now involved in other traditional crime areas. This includes drug trafficking and migrant smuggling. 

Europol also said that more criminal schemes have emerged to steal crypto, NFTs and resources used to mine crypto. 

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ZachXBT says the Bybit hack shows how the industry is “cooked” 

The most recent high-profile criminal activity in the crypto space is the Bybit hack, which led to nearly $1.5 billion in losses. In a Telegram post, crypto investigator ZachXBT said the hack has been “eye-opening,” showing how the industry is “unbelievably cooked” with hacks and exploits. 

The crypto sleuth said the industry may be unable to fix itself unless the government “forcibly passes regulations that hurt our entire industry.” The investigator shared that as he helped freeze funds related to the hack, he witnessed flaws with decentralized and centralized protocols. ZachXBT wrote: 

“Several ‘decentralized’ protocols have recently had nearly 100% of their monthly volume/fees derived from DPRK and refuse to take any accountability.”

The crypto investigator said North Korean hackers laundering the funds have demonstrated the flaws of Know Your Transaction and Know Your Customer protocols. 

“Centralized exchanges end up being worse as when illicit funds flow through them a few take multiple hours to respond when it only takes minutes to launder,” ZachXBT said.

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Major cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com came under fire following an allegedly manipulated vote leading to a massive token burn reversal on Crypto.com’s Cronos blockchain.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek took to X on March 19 to highlight the firm’s financial and regulatory stability amid the ongoing controversy over the 70 billion Cronos (CRO) token re-issuance.

Essentially canceling the 70 billion CRO token burn announced in 2021, the vote on bringing back the tokens has triggered outrage from the community, with many commentators criticizing the CEO for not addressing the issue in his new thread on X.

“So you made $1 billion profit but needed to mine 70 billion CRO instead of using those funds to buy some off the market and help your core community remain positive,” one commentator wrote.

Source: Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek

“The largest token burn in history”

In February 2021, a now-deleted Crypto.com post disclosed in February 2021 in a now-deleted post on the Crypto.com blog that the 70 billion CRO token burn was called the “largest token burn in history” with a goal to “fully decentralize the network” at the CRO mainnet launch.

“Aligned with our belief, and with the CRO chain mainnet launch just around the corner, we are fully decentralizing the chain network,” the blog post said, announcing an immediate burn of 59.6 billion tokens.

A screenshot from a now-deleted Crypto.com blog post on the 70 billion CRO token burn. Source: Archive.today

Following the immediate 59.6 billion CRO burn, 0.4 billion of the remaining tokens were directed to monthly burns, while another 5.9 billion CRO was sent to block rewards, and 0.9 billion CRO was allocated to Particle B for chain ecosystem development.

Why reverse the burn?

In four years following the burn, a Cronos blog post on March 2 announced a vote on the creation of a Cronos Strategic Reserve by reversing the 2021 token burn.

“In 2021, 70 billion CRO were burnt in one of the most significant burn transactions in history. Under today’s proposal, an equal number of tokens will be re-issued on Cronos POS into a Cronos Strategic Reserve escrow wallet, bringing the total supply back to the initial supply of 100 billion CRO,” the announcement said.

An excerpt from Cronos’ vote proposal on reversing the 2021 CRO token burn. Source: Cronos

Launched on March 3, the vote received lots of negative feedback from the community on social media, with many posters urging that the CRO re-issuance was the “opposite of what this community wants.”

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“I hope that people vote against this, this is a terrible idea,” one commenter said.

Last-minute voters approved re-issuance

Despite notable community backlash, the vote results came in favor of a Cronos Strategic Reserve, spurring controversy and speculation over alleged vote manipulation.

“Totally manipulation to come in at the last minute and vote yes, the CDC [crypto dot com] is as centralized as a blockchain can be, and shouldn’t be since there’s no real governance when 70% of the voting power is in the CDC,” one GitHub commentator wrote.

CRO governance voting results show 70% support from the community. Source: Mintscan

According to Laura Shin’s Unchained sources, Crypto.com allegedly controls 70-80% of the total voting power, essentially removing the need for any governance vote at all.

Following the massive backlash, Crypto.com announced an ask-me-anything event coming on March 25, with the CRO token burn apparently becoming the main issue on the agenda.

“Looking forward to catching up with our community on Tuesday,” Crypto.com CEO said in a March 19 post on X, adding the hashtag “MakeCROGreatAgain.”

Cointelegraph approached Crypto.com for a comment regarding the burn reversal but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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