ZachXBT Declares War on imToken: Majority of Trading Volume Comes from Rug Pulls and Scams in the Illegal Market

On May 4, Coinbase is set to list the Billions (BILL)/USD spot trading pair, per official sources. The BILL-USD pair will go live later today if liquidity requirements are met and trading support is confirmed.

May 4 — Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has accused former custody partner Etana Custody and its CEO Dion Brandon Russell of embezzling more than $25 million in customer funds, per a second amended complaint filed in a U.S. District Court in Colorado. The complaint further outlines specific alleged fund misuses: diverting at least $16 million in Kraken-linked funds to promissory notes from Seabury Trade Capital (which later defaulted); and using customer assets for forex hedging while retaining all investment gains for themselves. Etana continued to represent to customers that their account balances were secure and intact throughout this period. Kraken is seeking at least $25 million in damages, plus potential treble damages under civil theft claims, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees. The lawsuit also names Russell individually, alleging he had near-total control over Etana’s operations and directed the misappropriation and concealment of funds. Kraken Di

May 4 (Wednesday) — Macro analyst and Coin Bureau co-founder Nic Puckrin said in a post that Bitcoin’s rebound after recently topping $80,000 “looks shaky.” He noted the rally was mainly driven by falling oil prices (Brent crude dropped below $110 on “Project Freedom” news) — not strong buying support. If Brent surges back above $110, Bitcoin will face heavy downward pressure again. Puckrin added that if Bitcoin can’t hold above $79,500 today, the chance of a sharp rally will fade. He also pointed out gold has lost momentum after a strong 2025; safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar is weakening too, as countries globally look to cut reliance on dollar-denominated assets. On traditional stocks, Puckrin warned AI trading is growing overcrowded. A red flag: industry outsiders (like a Japanese toilet maker) are “jumping into AI” to boost share prices — similar to last year’s trend of companies adding Bitcoin to their treasuries, which could signal a precursor to large-scale sell-o

May 4 — OpenAI has raised more than $4 billion to launch a new joint venture focused on helping businesses adopt its AI software, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the new entity, named "The Deployment Company," has secured commitments from 19 investors — including TPG Inc., Brookfield Asset Management, Advent and Bain Capital. The deal values the joint venture at $10 billion, excluding funds already disbursed. OpenAI will hold a majority stake and control the venture, the source added.

On May 4, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced the formation of an industry working group to advance tokenization of the U.S. capital markets, per official sources. Ondo has been selected to join the group, collaborating with firms including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citadel Securities, the New York Stock Exchange, Circle, Fireblocks, Robinhood, and other players across traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). With over $114 trillion in assets under custody and $37 trillion in annual clearing volume, DTCC is developing a tokenization service to move core U.S. market processes onto blockchain. DTCC President and CEO Frank La Salla noted: “We believe tokenization will transform market operations significantly, delivering new levels of liquidity, transparency, and efficiency for investors.”

On May 4, Bitmine Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee made the following statement: The U.S. Senate has released the compromise text of the CLARITY Act. While the bill prohibits certain yield-bearing stablecoin reserves, it allows for activity-based "rewards," striking a balance between innovation and safeguarding existing depository institutions (i.e., traditional banks). This compromise is broadly acceptable to us, and we hope the bill will pass in 2026. Current predictions from prediction market Polymarket show the probability of the bill passing in 2026 has topped 60%—its highest level in a month. A "Crypto Spring" has begun. Similar to past cycles, investor sentiment remains subdued and somewhat pessimistic even as crypto prices rise. We believe the potential passage or rejection of the CLARITY Act will confirm the arrival of the Crypto Spring. Regarding the drivers behind the future growth of crypto assets, Ethereum (ETH) continues to benefit from a dual tailwind: Wall Street’s block