PLUS: SoFi, Circle, WonderFi

April 29, 2025

The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day 

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Welcome to The Node! This is Ben Schiller to take you through the latest crypto news. 

 

Here are the top stories from CoinDesk's reporters today:
A Vanishing $212M Bitcoin Order Caused Chaos for Traders. Is Spoofing Back in Crypto?
SoFi Plans Major Push Into Crypto Amid New Regulatory Environment
How $330M BTC Hacker May Have Doubled Down on Monero Derivatives
Circle Wins Regulatory Nod From Abu Dhabi Watchdog as USDC Hits $62B

Consensus Interview: Dean Skurka, WonderFi's CEO
Skurka, a speaker at Consensus 2025, outlines the firm’s Layer-2 ambitions, Australia expansion, regulatory hopes for Canada, and how volatility impacts the industry.
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Spoofing Is Back?

  • A large sell order for 2,500 bitcoin on Binance was removed abruptly on April 14, causing market volatility and raising suspicions of spoofing.
  • Spoofing, an illegal trading tactic, involves placing and then canceling large orders to manipulate market prices.
  • Despite increased regulatory scrutiny, spoofing remains a challenge in the crypto market, highlighting the need for better surveillance and stricter regulations.
 

SoFi So Good

  • Fintech SoFi is planning to offer several crypto services starting by the end of the year.
  • The move comes about two years after the company suspended its move into crypto amid a more difficult regulatory environment.
  • SoFi CEO Anthonty Noto said this change comes amid new guidance from the Comptroller of the Currency in March who promised a reduced burden on banks engaging in the sector.
 

Hacker May Have Monero Derivatives

  • Monero (XMR) rose by 45% on Monday after a hacker attempted to launder stolen funds by purchasing the privacy token.
  • Open interest, though, rose by 107%, indicating that someone, or a group of people, went long on XMR as the pump occurred.
  • The case mirrors that of JELLY last month which saw a trader layer multiple spot buys on illiquid exchanges to boost the connected derivative value.
 

Circle Wins Abu Dhabi Regulatory Nod

  • Circle received in-principal regulatory approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority to expand its operations in the Middle East.
  • Stablecoins are growing globally as a payments and remittances alternative to traditional rails.
  • The regulatory development comes after Circle debuted a payments network last week boosting utility for its $62 billion USDC token, while the firm is navigating a quiet period after filing for an IPO in the U.S.
 

Interview: WonderFi's Dean Skurka

Interview by Aoyon Ashraf. Dean Skurka is speaking at the AI Summit at Consensus 2025, Toronto, May 16.

 

When Dean Skurka joined Bitbuy in 2018, the platform had only four employees, a few thousand users, and about $25 million in trading volume. Fast-forward to today, Skurka now oversees WonderFi: A company that’s consolidated multiple Canadian exchanges, boasts 1.7 million accounts, and guards $2 billion in client assets.

But Skurka isn’t just sitting on a domestic empire—he’s building outward.

 

In a conversation with CoinDesk, WonderFi's president and CEO, Dean Skurka, detailed his company's next chapter: launching a Layer-2 blockchain in partnership with zkSync and expanding into Australia, a country he says “checks both boxes” of regulatory clarity and strong adoption. He also discussed the outlook for centralized exchanges and how Canada's crypto landscape is changing.

 

The centralized exchange said in February that it is launching a Layer 2 blockchain based on ZKsync to connect its users to decentralized finance (DeFi).

"When we think about the long-term trend across the industry, we see a really strong synergy between centralized exchanges, where the users are originating or the assets are originating, and giving them a seamless bridge to everything that's happening on chain today."


Skurka says WonderFi's knowledge of running trading platforms, regulatory credibility, and asset base gives it an edge over a plethora of other Layer 2s connecting DeFi.

Unlike some other rival Layer 2 chains launched with splashy token incentives or VC hype, Skurka says WonderFi’s approach is more grounded and long-lasting. It plans to foster long-term use through builder incentives, hackathons and ecosystem support.

 

Rather than viewing decentralized exchanges as competitors for centralized exchanges, Skurka sees them as extensions. Centralized exchanges provide the bridge for first-time users to go from buying and selling crypto on regulated and trusted platforms to on-chain activities that open up more innovative new products that exist in the crypto ecosystem.

 

"[Centralized exchanges] are building out the components that will allow their users to seamlessly interact on chain, but at the same time building up the the capabilities on the exchange side to look more akin to traditional financial service products, which we think will create incremental value on both sides over the next 5 to 10 years," he said.


FULL INTERVIEW.

 

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Links, Links, Links

 

Secret Deals, Foreign Investments, Presidential Policy Changes: The Rise of Trump’s Crypto Firm – NY Times

Trump unleashes crypto ‘sea change’ in first 100 days – The Hill

Trump's crypto push could raise systemic risks, Bank of Italy says – Bloomberg

 

What Metaverse

 

 

 
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