KEYTAKEAWAYS
- Binance continues to expand its ecosystem with the Alpha Points reward system and new perpetual contracts, while South Korea's ruling party plans legislation to promote cryptocurrency development.
- The controversial Trump meme coin dinner has sparked a 71% price surge despite ethical concerns, with developers clarifying there's no $300,000 entry fee as top holders compete for spots.
- North Korean hackers created legitimate US companies to target crypto developers, while Nvidia maintains its distance from the crypto sector by suspending collaboration with Arbitrum.
CONTENT
Welcome to the CoinRank Crypto News Roundup. CoinRank will provide daily important crypto news in this column series, allowing readers to quickly obtain the latest crucial updates from the cryptocurrency market.
MORNING NEWS
1. Binance Launches “Alpha Points” System to Evaluate User Activity
According to the Binance app, the exchange has launched an “Alpha Points” system to evaluate user activity in the Binance Alpha and Binance Wallet ecosystems. This system will determine eligibility for participating in Token Generation Events (TGE) and Alpha token airdrops. Points are calculated daily based on token asset balance and Alpha token purchases over the past 15 days, with selling Alpha tokens currently not generating points.
2. $TRUMP Memecoin Developers Clarify No $300,000 Fee Required for Presidential Dinner
The developers of the $TRUMP meme coin have defended the upcoming dinner with President Donald Trump, clarifying that no $300,000 fee is required to attend the event. The confusion arose amid rumors and various Trump-related promotions, including NFT sales and fundraising events that offered high-paying supporters exclusive experiences. The dinner, scheduled for May 22 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, will be open to the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP coin, with the top 25 holders receiving additional benefits including a VIP reception and special tour. The announcement sparked a 71% surge in the token’s value, though critics, including Senator Chris Murphy and watchdog group Accountable.US, have raised ethical concerns about the event.
3. White House and Congressional Tax Leaders to Meet Next Week
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has announced that the highest-level tax negotiation representatives from Congress will meet with White House officials next week. Hassett and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will present the president’s agenda to what are being called the “six giants” – Republican leaders from both chambers (Mike Johnson and John Thune) and the chairs of the tax committees (Jason Smith and Mike Crapo). The meeting represents a significant step in advancing the administration’s tax agenda, with key stakeholders from both the executive and legislative branches coming together at a critical juncture in the legislative calendar.
4. Trump’s Push for Lower Interest Rates Could Backfire on Consumer Borrowing Costs
President Donald Trump continues to pressure the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but economists warn that even if the Fed complies, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to lower borrowing costs for consumers. In fact, Trump’s attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his tariff policies could keep long-term interest rates higher than they would otherwise be. A less-independent Fed can lead to higher borrowing costs over time as investors worry about future inflation and demand higher yields for Treasury securities. While the Fed controls short-term rates, long-term rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards are largely set by market forces, which have pushed rates higher due to inflation fears from tariffs and concerns about Fed independence.
5. Trump Contradicts China on Trade Discussions Status
President Donald Trump has refuted China’s claims that there are no ongoing trade discussions between Beijing and Washington. “They had a meeting this morning… It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China,” Trump told reporters. This contradicts statements from China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong, who insisted “at present there are absolutely no negotiations on the economy and trade between China and the U.S.” and called for the U.S. to “cancel all the unilateral measures on China.” Analysts suggest China’s strategy has shifted from focusing on U.S. demands to emphasizing its own needs, with some warning that China may adopt a more hawkish stance if tensions continue to escalate.
NOON NEWS
1. Binance Adds New Perpetual Contracts and Announces Token Delistings
Binance has announced the addition of two new USDⓈ-Margined perpetual contracts to its Futures platform: MEMEFIUSDT and FISUSDT. Trading will go live on April 25 at 07:15 UTC and 07:30 UTC respectively, with MEMEFI offering up to 50x leverage and FIS up to 75x. Both contracts will settle in USDT with a capped funding rate of +2.00%/-2.00%, settled every four hours. Separately, Binance will delist Alpaca Finance (ALPACA), PlayDapp (PDA), Viberate (VIB), and Wing Finance (WING) on May 2 following a routine review that found these tokens failed to meet listing standards.
2. North Korean Hackers Created US Companies to Target Crypto Developers
North Korean cyber spies created two businesses in the United States – Blocknovas LLC and Softglide LLC – to infect cryptocurrency developers with malicious software, according to cybersecurity researchers at Silent Push. A third business, Angeloper Agency, is linked to the campaign but does not appear to be registered in the U.S. The FBI has seized the domain for Blocknovas, noting it was used “to deceive individuals with fake job postings and distribute malware.” The hackers, identified as part of a subgroup within the Lazarus Group, used fake personas and addresses to register these companies in New Mexico and New York, violating Treasury sanctions and UN prohibitions on North Korean commercial activity designed to assist the country’s government or military.
3. Justin Sun Suspected of Being Top TRUMP Token Holder for VIP Dinner
According to on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa, the third VIP seat for the TRUMP dinner has been claimed by MemeCore, with Wintermute in second place. The first-place user, “Sun,” holds over $14 million worth of $TRUMP tokens, leading to community speculation that the address belongs to Justin Sun, though he has not made any statements confirming or denying this.
4. Midas RWA Platform’s Total Value Locked Exceeds $60 Million
The total value locked (TVL) on the Midas RWA platform has surpassed $60 million, reaching $63.25 million. This marks significant growth in the on-chain capital market sector. Midas RWA focuses on tokenized assets, offering a user-friendly platform that supports client operations.
5. OKX to Launch Pay Wallet Next Week, Targeting One Billion Users
OKX CEO Star announced on Twitter that the launch of OKX Pay Wallet next week will help popularize cryptocurrencies among one billion consumers. Integrated into OKX’s Ethereum Layer 2 network and supporting USDC and USDT stablecoins, Pay Wallet is a new type of private keyless wallet that will launch with card functionality and require KYC verification. When paired with DeFi, it will generate returns for users. This launch follows last month’s release of a stand-alone OKX Wallet app and indicates the company’s efforts to scale and penetrate the crypto payments market segment.
EVENING NEWS
1. Nvidia Suspends Collaboration with Arbitrum at the Last Moment
Despite ongoing efforts for crypto companies to collaborate with the AI sector, Nvidia continues to distance itself from crypto-related projects. According to Coindesk, Nvidia has unilaterally suspended its collaboration with Arbitrum, which was expected to announce a partnership as the exclusive Ethereum partner for Nvidia’s Ignition AI Accelerator program. “We received last minute information from Nvidia requesting a pause on the announcement, but they did not provide any details as to why,” an Arbitrum spokesperson stated. This aligns with Nvidia’s cautious approach to cryptocurrencies since 2018, with CEO Jensen Huang and CTO Michael Kagan both publicly stating that cryptocurrencies do not add anything useful to society.
2. Michael Saylor: Banks Now Free to Support Bitcoin After Fed Guidance Change
Strategy founder Michael Saylor commented on recent changes in the Federal Reserve’s guidance regarding banks’ crypto assets and dollar token activities, noting that banks are now free to start supporting Bitcoin. This development follows the Federal Reserve’s decision to revoke previous guidance and adjust related expectations, potentially paving the way for increased institutional involvement in cryptocurrency markets.
3. Binance Announces 16th HODLer Airdrops Project with Sign (SIGN)
Binance has announced Sign (SIGN), a global infrastructure for credential verification and token distributions, as the 16th project on its HODLer Airdrops page. Users who subscribed their BNB to Simple Earn or On-Chain Yields products from April 15-19 will receive airdrops. Binance will list SIGN on April 28 at 11:00 UTC with trading pairs against USDT, USDC, BNB, FDUSD, and TRY. The project has a genesis total token supply of 10 billion SIGN, with 200 million SIGN (2.00% of total supply) allocated for HODLer Airdrops rewards and an additional 150 million SIGN for marketing campaigns. The circulating supply upon listing will be 1.2 billion SIGN (12.00% of total supply).
4. South Korea’s Ruling Party to Promote New Law Supporting Cryptocurrency Industry
South Korea’s main right-wing political party, the People’s Power Party (PPP), has officially announced plans to promote a new law aimed at developing the local cryptocurrency industry. Former policy chief Kim Sang-hoon stated at a meeting that the country needs to end the “era of uncertainty and regulation” and usher in the era of digital asset promotion. “Due to the government’s anti-money laundering efforts, policies that focus excessively on regulation have hindered foreign capital from entering the domestic virtual asset market,” Kim said, adding that domestic capital has also left the local market for the same reasons.
5. New Wallet Withdraws $1.63M of TRUMP Tokens to Secure VIP Dinner Spot
A newly activated wallet has withdrawn $1.63 million worth of TRUMP tokens, securing a spot in the top 25 VIP holders for the upcoming dinner with President Trump.
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