You need to see this sketchy surge 🙈

Good Tuesday! In today’s edition:

• 🔍 Monero soars after sus BTC move

• 🧱 Ethereum hard fork spikes EOF

• 💳 MetaMask debuts crypto card

• ⚡ U.S. commerce chief: It’s time to mine

The Financial Freedom Report explores the role currency and banking play in the civil liberties and human rights struggles of those living under authoritarian regimes and how Bitcoin is used to push back.

Monero Spikes After ‘Suspicious’ Transfer of Bitcoin Worth $330M 

Privacy-focused token Monero (XMR) experienced a dramatic price surge of up to 50% on Monday following a suspicious $330 million bitcoin transfer said to be linked to potential theft and laundering activity.

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT flagged the transfer on X, noting that the funds appeared to have been laundered afterwards through six instant exchanges and then swapped for XMR.

Signs that the transfer was likely a theft, according to ZachXBT, included the fact that the potential victim’s wallet was a longtime BTC holder that had created hundreds of small orders with the sudden movement of funds, paying fees that were collectively over the odds. 

XMR’s price reached levels not seen since 2021, peaking at a high of $347 on some exchanges before settling lower.

Monero is designed to provide untraceable, anonymous transactions through advanced cryptographic techniques such as ring signatures that mix real transactions with decoys to obscure senders’ identities.

Ethereum Developers Vote EOF Out of Fusaka Hard Fork

Ethereum core developers have officially decided to remove the Ethereum virtual machine object format (EOF) upgrade from the upcoming Fusaka hard fork, which is scheduled for late this year.

The decision was confirmed by Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko on Monday’s inter-op testing call. Beiko cited technical uncertainties and concerns about potential delays to the Fusaka rollout as the main reasons for excluding EOF at this stage.

EOF is a proposed upgrade to the Ethereum virtual machine that introduces a new structured, modular format for Ethereum smart contracts. 

Unlike the current flat bytecode system, EOF aims to separate code from data, enforce stricter validation at deployment, and improve both security and efficiency for smart contracts.

It has become one of the most contentious proposals in Ethereum’s recent history, sparking extensive debate among developers and the broader community.

EOF’s advocates see it as a crucial step to modernize the Ethereum virtual machine, clean up technical debt, and enable a more structured, secure, and future-proof contract environment. 

Critics say it introduces significant complexity as it changes most opcodes, brings new semantics, and requires extensive tooling updates, potentially introducing new vulnerabilities.

MetaMask to Launch Self-Custody Crypto Card With Mastercard

MetaMask has announced the launch of a self-custody crypto payments card in partnership with Mastercard, Baanx, and CompoSecure. 

The metal payment card will let users spend crypto directly from their MetaMask wallets anywhere Mastercard is accepted, without the need for pre-loading, conversions, or intermediaries.

At launch, spendable tokens include USDC, aUSDC, USDT, WETH, EURe, and GBPe on the Linea network. Users will also earn 1% USDC cash back on USDC purchases made with the card.

"For too long, crypto users have been locked out of everyday finance,” said Ale Machado, product manager at MetaMask. “The MetaMask Card changes that.”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Unveils Plan to ‘Turbocharge’ Bitcoin Mining

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says his department’s investment accelerator program will help Bitcoin miners to accelerate production.

The investment accelerator initiative specifically aims to streamline the permitting process, clear regulatory hurdles, and provide dedicated support for large-scale projects including bitcoin mining operations.

“If you want to mine bitcoin and you find the right place to do it, you can build your own power plant next to it,” Lutnick said. “The next generation of miners in America will be able to control their destiny, control the cost of power. I think that is going to turbocharge Bitcoin mining in America.” 

Lutnick went on to compare bitcoin to gold, calling it a rare commodity whose value is rooted in its limited supply. 

By increasing the U.S. share of global bitcoin mining, the Trump administration says it aims to secure “transaction sovereignty,” reduce foreign influence over the Bitcoin network, and stimulate domestic economic growth through high-tech job creation and energy innovation.

• 🛠️ The Ethereum Foundation on Monday formalized the status of Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak as co-executive directors, elevated Aya Miyaguchi to president, and outlined a strategy focused on scaling, user experience upgrades, and developer onboarding, while reaffirming Vitalik Buterin’s role as a technical advisor.

• ⚡ Ethereum could reach up to 2,000 transactions per second by 2029 if EIP-9698 is approved, allowing the gas limit to automatically expand 100-fold without a hard fork by gradually increasing block capacity every epoch.

• 📝 Major crypto investors and advocacy groups urged the White House on Monday to drop the criminal case against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, arguing that recent Justice Department guidance had weakened the claim that his protocol operated as a money transmitter.

• 🎮 The FTX estate sued token issuers NFT Stars and Delysium in Delaware bankruptcy court on Monday, seeking the return of more than 83 million SIDUS, 831,000 SENATE, and 75 million AGI tokens tied to unfulfilled investment agreements signed by Alameda Ventures.

• 📈 Coinbase will launch its Bitcoin Yield Fund on May 1 for non-U.S. institutions, aiming for 4-8% annual returns in BTC through a cash-and-carry arbitrage strategy.

• 💥 News that top holders of U.S. President Donald Trump’s memecoin could win a VIP dinner triggered $2.4 billion in onchain TRUMP token transfers last week, a 60% price surge to $14.50, and the highest centralized exchange trading volume since February, according to crypto analytics platform Kaiko.

• 🏛️ Arizona lawmakers on Monday passed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, which will allow up to 10% of public funds to be invested in bitcoin, positioning the state to become the first with such a mandate if Governor Katie Hobbs signs it into law.

• 🇰🇷 South Korea’s ruling People Power Party is promising to legalize spot crypto exchange-traded funds, abolish a “one exchange, one bank” rule, and form a new virtual asset committee as part of its digital asset reform agenda ahead of a June 3 snap election.

• 🔙 Crypto lender Nexo has announced its return to the U.S. market after a two-year absence following regulatory issues, saying it will offer full services to American retail and institutional clients under what it described as a more crypto-friendly Trump administration.

• 💵 Michael Saylor’s Strategy acquired 15,355 bitcoin for $1.42 billion over the past week at an average price of $92,737 in a move funded by stock sales, boosting its total holdings to 553,555 BTC valued at more than $52 billion.

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