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Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined an extensive plan to enhance the privacy of the network he helped create.

In an April 11 roadmap, Buterin argued for incorporating privacy tools into Ether (ETH) wallets and implementing privacy-enhancing norms and features in the Ethereum ecosystem and protocol. He explained that the roadmap in question is a short-term solution that requires limited changes to the base protocol along with supplemental long-term updates.

Buterin recommends adopting privacy-enhancing systems such as Railgun or Privacy Pools by existing wallets, according to the plan. When funds are sent with those wallets, he argues that users should be greeted by an option to “send from shielded balance,” which anonymizes the transaction, and should be “ideally turned on by default.” He wrote:

“Users should NOT have to download a separate ‘privacy wallet.’“

Major

Memecoins, markets and Trump: Cointelegraph’s Q1 crypto editorial roundtable

The year 2025 kicked off with a bang and a meme. Just weeks into the New Year, a frenzy of politically fueled memecoins sent Crypto Twitter into overdrive, while lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic turned up the heat on stablecoins, securities laws and tokenized assets, usually with different approaches.

It was a whirlwind first quarter, shaped by Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market and a US political climate that put digital assets back in the spotlight. Q1 delivered no shortage of storylines.

Who better to break it all down than the journalists tracking it in real time? In the latest episode of Decentralize with Cointelegraph, editorial team members sit down for an unfiltered newsroom roundtable.

Savannah Fortis, head of podcasts and EU reporter, is joined by Gareth Jenkinson, chief of multimedia; Zoltan Vardai, breaking news reporter on the EU news team; and Vince Quill, US news reporter, to reflect on Q1’s

Trump memecoins worth $321M to hit the market next week

United States President Donald Trump’s official memecoin is set to unlock $321 million worth of vested tokens on April 18.

Token vesting tracker Tokenomist data shows that 40 million Trump tokens will be released in a cliff unlock, meaning the tokens will be available all at once. With the tokens currently trading at about $8, the unlock represents about $321 million in supply entering the market at once.

Token vesting is a common practice in the crypto space to incentivize long-term holding and prevent early investors or team members from dumping tokens during the start of the project. Instead, projects impose a vesting period that allows individuals or entities to gradually get access to the tokens.

Trump memecoin down 89% since its peak

While the token’s creators reportedly profited by more than $350 million, retail investors have not fared

StarkWare researchers propose smart contracts for Bitcoin with ColliderVM

Sidechain developer StarkWare and Weizmann Institute of Science researchers claim to have created a workaround for multiple Bitcoin script limitations.

According to a recent research paper, the new design claims to allow the deployment of complex smart contracts on Bitcoin in a more capital-efficient manner. The new system may also be vastly more efficient from a computing standpoint.

ColliderVM is a protocol designed to enable stateful computation on Bitcoin, allowing multi-step processes to be securely executed over multiple transactions. Traditionally, Bitcoin script output is not accessible to other scripts, making complex calculations nearly impossible.

The researchers argue that ColliderVM could allow the use of Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge (STARKs) — a type of zero-knowledge proof — on Bitcoin without requiring consensus-level changes to the network. The architecture would let Bitcoin verify complex offchain computations with minimal onchain data.

ColliderVM targets Bitcoin limitations

Each Bitcoin block can contain up

New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments

A New York lawmaker has introduced legislation that would allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments, signaling growing political momentum for digital asset integration in public services.

Assembly Bill A7788, introduced by Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, seeks to amend state financial law to allow New York state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.

It could permit state agencies to accept payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), according to the bill’s text.

Source: Nysenate.gov

According to the bill, state offices could authorize crypto payments for “fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, charges, revenue, financial obligations or other amounts,” as well as penalties, special assessments and interest.

Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-tariff-escalation-exposes-fractures-global-financial-system" rel="null"

BlackRock reports $3B in digital asset inflows during Q1

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $11.6 trillion in assets under management, reported $84 billion in total net inflows in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 3% annualized growth in assets under management.

The firm’s strong performance was led by a record first quarter for iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs) alongside continued strength in private markets and net inflows, according to BlackRock’s Q1 earnings released on April 11.

Of the $107 billion in net inflows to iShares ETFs, $3 billion, or 2.8% of the total ETF inflows, was directed to digital asset products in Q1, BlackRock said.

BlackRock’s net flow data in Q1 2025 (in billions of US dollars). Source: BlackRock

Alternative investments also played a significant role in Q1, with private market inflows totaling $9.3 billion.

Digital assets remain small segment

As of March 31, 2025, digital assets accounted for $34 million in base fees or less than

The whale, the hack and the psychological earthquake that hit HEX

An elderly crypto whale known as “HEX 19” lost nearly $4.5 million in a slow-moving hack that drained his staked HEX over multiple years.

At first, it looked like a HEX whale was cashing out. But it wasn’t long before the community realized he didn’t voluntarily unstake his tokens — he had become a victim of a major exploit.

The cyberattack started in November 2021, touched multiple phishing wallets and was traced back to an online entity known as “Konpyl,” a threat actor familiar to crypto investigators.

The breach not only shook the token’s price but also exposed a web of fraudulent operations tied to Inferno Drainer and the $1.6 million fake Rabby wallet scam of February 2024.

HEX token price sinks following the HEX19 hack. Source: CoinGecko

HEX hackers and the web of connections

A blockchain investigator who spoke to Cointelegraph on condition of anonymity

Swedish MP proposes Bitcoin reserve to finance minister

A member of Sweden’s parliament proposed adding Bitcoin to the country’s foreign exchange reserves, suggesting increased openness to cryptocurrency adoption in Europe following recent moves by the United States.

Swedish MP Rickard Nordin issued an open letter urging Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson to consider adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a national reserve asset.

“Sweden has a tradition of a conservative and carefully managed foreign exchange reserve, mainly consisting of foreign currencies and gold,” Nordin wrote in a letter registered on April 8, adding:

“At the same time, there is a rapid development in digital assets, and several international players regard bitcoin as a custodian and a hedge against inflation. In many parts of the world, bitcoin is used as a means of payment and as security against rising inflation.”

“It is also an important way for freedom fighters to handle payments when under the oppression

What is a bear raid, and how do whales use them in crypto trading?

Key takeaways

Bear raids involve deliberate efforts by whales to drive down crypto prices using short-selling, FUD and large-scale sell-offs to trigger panic and profit from the dip.

These raids create volatility, trigger liquidations and damage retail confidence. However, they can also expose weak or fraudulent projects.

Signs include sudden price drops, high trading volume, absence of news and quick recoveries, indicating price manipulation rather than natural market trends.

Traders can guard against bear raids by using stop-loss orders, diversifying portfolios, monitoring whale activity and trading on reputable, regulated platforms.

Not all market moves are organic in the dynamic world of crypto trading; some are engineered to make quick profits. One such tactic is the bear raid, often driven by powerful market players known as whales.

These traders strategically use short-selling, where they borrow and sell assets at current prices, aiming to repurchase them cheaper once the price drops.

So, how exactly

Ethical hacker intercepts $2.6M in Morpho Labs exploit

A known maximal extractable value (MEV) white hat actor intercepted about $2.6 million in crypto assets stolen from Morpho Labs’ decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol.

On April 10, Morpho Labs implemented a front-end update on its Morpho Blue application. A day later, a hacker breached an address through a vulnerability caused by the update. Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that an address lost $2.6 million due to the vulnerability.

However, the security firm noted that “c0ffeebabe.eth,” a known white hat MEV operator, had front-run the transaction, effectively intercepting the stolen funds.

At the time of writing, the funds had been transferred to a different wallet address. It’s unclear whether the funds have yet been returned to their original owner.

Morpho Labs reverts front-end update

Responding to the incident, Morpho Labs reversed its front-end update. In a post on X on April 11, the team confirmed it had