Fool Me Once...

Plus, 📈 TON rallies as Telegram founder exits France, 🏦 21Shares closes Bitcoin and Ether futures ETFs, and 🔥 OKX halts DEX services after regulatory talks.

Author

Juan Aranovich
March 17, 2025

Happy Monday! In today’s edition:

  • 🤯 LIBRA’s Hayden Davis: At it again?

  • 🚀 TON surges on Telegram founder news 

  • 💰 21Shares liquidates crypto ETFs 

  • 🛑 OKX halts DEX aggregator services

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LIBRA Co-Founder Linked to Another Collapsed Token

Hayden Davis, the controversial figure behind the LIBRA token, has been linked to another memecoin that crashed 99% within a day of its launch earlier this month. 

Blockchain data firm Bubblemaps traced a memecoin named WOLF to Davis across 17 addresses and five cross-chain transfers.

“All led to a single address: OxcEAe…The same one owned by Hayden Davis!” Bubblemaps said on X. 

The token was promoted by a WallStreetBets social media account and appeared to capitalize on rumors of Jordan Belfort, A.K.A. the "Wolf of Wall Street," launching his own memecoin.

WOLF’s developer sniped the token with multiple wallets, pulling liquidity from the token after it reached a market cap of over $40 million.

An Argentinian prosecutor has reportedly asked a judge to issue an Interpol Red Notice for Davis.

TON Surges After Telegram Founder’s Release From France

Toncoin (TON), the native token of Telegram-associated The Open Network, has gained 17% since a report that Telegram founder Pavel Durov had been granted permission to leave France after months of legal proceedings.

A report by Barrons that cited unnamed sources said Durov had departed France for Dubai after a judge granted him authority to leave for several weeks. The TON Foundation confirmed Durov’s release shortly afterward on X.

Durov had been confined to France since his arrest last August on various charges, including allegations related to enabling illegal transactions on the Telegram platform.

TON is currently trading at around $3.50, more than 40% up from its lowest level this month. However, some analysts caution that the price surge may be short-lived as open interest surged to $169 million on Sunday.

Pseudonymous crypto analyst Profit Mind said TON’s price might go lower before it moves higher. 

“Toncoin is testing the lower boundary of a falling wedge pattern on the daily chart,” the analyst said “Current price action shows signs of potential reversal with increasing buying interest,” 

Digital asset manager 21Shares announced the liquidation of two actively managed exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin and ether futures — the ARK 21Shares Active On-Chain Bitcoin Strategy ETF and ARK 21Shares Active On-Chain Ethereum Strategy ETF.

The fund manager said the last day of trading for both funds would be March 27, after which shareholders will receive a liquidating distribution with a value equal to their proportionate ownership interest on that date.

The decision comes in the wake of significant outflows from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs, which have seen $1.66 billion withdrawn this month.

Year to date, U.S. bitcoin spot ETFs have sold 7,400 BTC, representing non-stop selling over the past six weeks, Apollo co-founder Thomas Fahrer said on X. 

Crypto exchange OKX said on Friday that it had opted to “temporarily” suspend its decentralized exchange aggregator services after consulting with a European Union regulator.

“Recently, we detected a coordinated effort by Lazarus group to misuse our DeFi services,” OKX said in a statement. “At the same time, we've noticed an increase in competitive attacks aiming to undermine our work.” 

The exchange’s decision follows reports that the Digital Finance Standing Committee of the European Securities and Markets Authority was investigating OKX's DEX aggregator for its alleged role in laundering funds from the recent $1.5 billion Bybit hack. 

OKX initially called those media reports false and misleading, but now says it can’t ignore “targeted media attacks” at a time when the team is “actively fighting against financial crime.”

OKX said its wallet services would remain available during the DEX suspension, but that new wallet creation in selected markets would be put on hold.

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  • 🪙 Aave founder Stani Kulechov confirmed on Sunday that Horizon will not launch a new token, following a DAO backlash over potential AAVE dilution. The institution-focused DeFi initiative aims to integrate real-world assets using tokenized money market funds as collateral for stablecoin liquidity. The proposal had initially suggested a separate token with 15% allocated to Aave DAO, but strong opposition led to its removal, with Kulechov saying that the DAO’s decision would be respected.

  • 📊🔥 The total value of ERC20 tokens on Ethereum has surpassed that of ETH itself, accounting for 51% of the network’s $500 billion in secured value, with stablecoins such as USDT and USDC leading the charge, raising concerns over Ethereum’s ability to capture its ecosystem’s growth.

  • 📧 Crypto users are reporting an uptick in phishing scams impersonating Coinbase and Gemini, with fraudulent emails urging users to transition to self-custody wallets using pre-generated recovery phrases controlled by scammers.

  • 🐦 The X accounts of Web3 platform Kaito and its founder, Yu Hu, were hacked on Saturday and used to spread false claims of token supply issues, briefly causing a 10% drop in the KAITO token’s price before it rebounded.

  • 📉 U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have nearly erased their year-to-date gains, with cumulative inflows having dropped to their lowest levels since Jan. 2.

  • 🇰🇷🏦 South Korea’s central bank on Sunday ruled out adding bitcoin to its foreign reserves, citing high volatility and International Monetary Fund guidelines, despite global interest in state-backed BTC holdings, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a U.S. Bitcoin reserve.

  • 💳 Crypto payments firm RedotPay secured $40 million in a series-A round led by Lightspeed as demand for digital asset payment solutions grows, with the platform already boasting more than 3 million users globally.