Bitcoin tested the $78,000 mark, crypto projects faced a new wave of hacks, and Russia proposed penalties for illegal digital asset exchanges among other events from the past week.
Cautious Optimism in the Market
Over the past week, Bitcoin continued its upward trend, securing important support levels. Monday began with a drop to $71,000 amid news of failed negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
However, by early Tuesday morning, April 14, the asset rose above $74,000. Some observers linked this increase to the liquidation of a large volume of short positions.
Until Friday, the leading cryptocurrency traded within a narrow range of $73,000 to $76,000. After the U.S. market opened for the last trading session of the week, the asset jumped to $78,000.
This positive momentum was attributed to a statement from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, announcing the reopening of the Hormuz Strait.
However, prices did not hold at this level for long. Over the weekend, digital gold lost all of Friday's gains, correcting to $75,000. Over the week, the coin gained about 6%.
Other top-10 cryptocurrencies followed the leader with minimal deviations: ETH rose by 6%, XRP by 8%, and BNB by 5%.
Despite the optimism, investors remain cautious. Major concerns revolve around the potential for a short squeeze. The market has seen a significant gap between the positive dynamics of spot prices and the pessimistic positioning in futures. Such discrepancies often lead to large-scale liquidations.
The growth of the crypto market was also accompanied by inflows into ETFs. Bitcoin-based spot products attracted $996 million over the week—the second-largest figure since the beginning of the year.
Ethereum funds received $275 million.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization rose to $2.6 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 57.5% and Ethereum at 10.7%.
The cryptocurrency fear and greed index returned to the fear zone at 27 for the first time since mid-March.
A New Wave of Hacks
For several weeks, the crypto industry has been experiencing a series of major attacks on projects. On April 13, the cross-chain bridge Hyperbridge on the Polkadot network was compromised.
The hacker gained administrator rights and issued 1 billion tokens of DOT. They then sold the coins in a single transaction for 108.2 ETH (about $237,000).
The attack did not affect the Polkadot mainnet—only the ERC-20 version of its native coin operating on Ethereum.
Later, the Hyperbridge team reported a revised damage estimate of $2.5 million. The majority of this amount reflects losses from incentive pools in the Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum networks.
The project promised to compensate affected users.
By the end of the week, on April 17, the Kelp protocol was attacked as well. The criminals exploited a vulnerability in the cross-chain bridge.
According to an analysis of the incident, the hacker invoked the lzReceive function in the EndpointV2 contract, initiating a transfer of 116,500 rsETH to a personal address. The damage is estimated at approximately $293 million.
Following the hack, the protocol froze most operations. The situation also impacted the lending platform Aave, through which the hacker liquidated assets.
What to Discuss with Friends?
- Tether launched a "people's" Bitcoin wallet.
- Bitwise: the conflict in Iran brought Bitcoin closer to becoming a real means of payment.
- In China, a plan to integrate AI into education was launched.
- Criticism instead of partnership. Journalists published an investigation into Polymarket and Kalshi.
Tighter Exchange Regulations in Russia
The Russian government's commission on legislative activity approved provisions that propose criminal liability for illegal cryptocurrency operations.
The initiative introduces a new article 171.7 to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation concerning the illegal organization of digital currency circulation. It stipulates penalties for activities related to the organization of digital currency circulation without registration or a license from the Central Bank.
The punishment depends on the amount of damage. The basic offense carries a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, community service, or imprisonment for up to four years.
For aggravated circumstances, such as if the act is committed by a group or involves particularly large amounts, the sentence can increase to seven years, and the fine can reach up to 1 million rubles. Damage of 3.5 million rubles is considered significant, while amounts over 13.5 million rubles are deemed particularly large.
The amendments will be part of the bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," which may come into effect on July 1, 2026.
In a comment to ForkLog, experts evaluated the provisions and their implications for the local market. Olga Zakharova, director of the legal department at "PLAN B," emphasized that penalties will not target casual cryptocurrency exchanges, meaning ordinary users of digital assets are safe.
Illegal circulation refers specifically to the organization of virtual currency transactions. Not only exchanges but also any services facilitating transactions or providing infrastructure are at risk.
According to Ignat Likhunov, founder of the legal agency Cartesius, the key issue for the market is not the fact of criminal liability itself, but how easily one can approach it.
He noted that the threshold of 3.5 million rubles is relatively low for the transfer of digital assets.
"In other words, if an exchange bought, say, 40,000 USDT or 50,000 USDT, which are considered crypto, incurred expenses, and then sold them at a higher price, earning 1%, they would have already exceeded the 3.5 million threshold and would be liable for part of the first offense," Likhunov explained.
Andrey Tugarin, founder of the legal firm GMT Legal, pointed out that the main goal of the new legislative block is to regulate the organizers of digital currency circulation. Primarily, this involves cryptocurrency exchanges, although the circle of participants is broader.
OpenAI Keeps Up
In response to the controversial release of the AI model Mythos from Anthropic, OpenAI opened access to GPT-5.4-Cyber—a new solution for identifying software vulnerabilities—to a limited number of users.
"This is a version of GPT-5.4 that lowers the failure threshold for legitimate work in cybersecurity and opens up new capabilities for advanced defensive workflows," the announcement stated.
Among the additional features of the neural network is reverse engineering of binary files. This allows experts to analyze compiled software for vulnerabilities and malicious code, as well as assess overall security levels without direct access to the source code.
To access the tool, users must verify their identity, and organizations must request permission through their representative.
The recent release of Anthropic caused a stir in the AI industry. The company declined to release the model publicly due to its advanced capabilities in vulnerability detection and high security risks.
Concerns arose as Mythos discovered thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers within just a few weeks.
Also on ForkLog:
- At Stanford, it was noted that AI development is outpacing expectations.
- The largest Ethereum holder's losses exceeded $3.8 billion.
- Public miners sold a record 32,000 BTC in a quarter.
- Bitcoin mining difficulty decreased by 2.4%.
Clarifications for Crypto Wallets
This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took another significant regulatory step. The agency published a statement clarifying the interpretation of APIs for cryptocurrency transactions under broker-dealer rules.
According to the note, solutions for operations through self-custodial wallets may be exempt from registration under certain circumstances.
The main condition is not to encourage investors to engage in specific transactions involving crypto-assets classified as securities. It is also required not to comment on transaction execution methods and to comply with other SEC standards.
Although the clarification does not have official force, it "provides greater clarity in the application of the laws," the authors noted.
The community called the document "one of the most important" in the history of digital assets in the U.S. The initiative was also supported by commissioner Hester Peirce.
"Cryptocurrencies force the SEC to grapple with internal demons that pushed it toward an increasingly broad interpretation of securities laws," she added.
Over the past year, the Commission has issued several similar guidelines. In one of them, the agency excluded meme coins and most stablecoins from the category of securities.
What Else to Read?
ForkLog reflected on the journey of alternative layer-one blockchains. The new material analyzes promises, billions raised, and the harsh reality faced by protocol teams in 2026.
In the traditional digest, the main events from the world of cybersecurity over the week were compiled.