South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced a corporate restructuring, set to complete by July 31, 2025. The company will spin off non-exchange businesses into a new entity called “Bithumb A” to reduce risks and boost efficiency. This move is part of Bithumb’s preparation for its planned IPO, which could take place in the Korean market or on Nasdaq. Last year, Bithumb reported a net profit of $110 million, a 560% increase from the previous year.
Barely two weeks after a hacking incident compelled KiloEx’s suspension, the platform is staging a comeback and offering a compensation plan for affected victims.
The comeback highlights the platform’s resilience even as bad actors remain a consistent threat to the crypto industry.
How KiloEx Will Compensate Victims of $7 Million Hack
The YZi Labs-backed decentralized exchange (DEX) revealed the news in an X (Twitter) post, detailing how it would compensate victims.
“Due to the security incident on April 14, 2025, where KiloEx was exploited by a hacker, some user activities were affected. We are now announcing resolution plans for traders, Hybrid Vault stakers, and VIP users,” wrote the DEX.
In a follow-up Medium post, KiloEx detailed how it would unite traders, Hybrid Vault Stakers, and VIP users.
Instructions for KiloEx Traders
Traders’ limit orders will be canceled while taking profit, and stop losses will be executed as normal. Traders whose positions remained open during the platform suspension will remain active after the KiloEx platform resumes. However, those whose losses increased or profits decreased during this suspension will be fully compensated for the difference.
“Please close your position as soon as possible after the platform resumes,” KiloEx directed.
This directive comes as DEX will calculate compensation based on the platform’s resume time. Accordingly, traders who delay their position closure could incur differences between their actual PnL (profit and loss) and the compensation amount.
Instructions for Hybrid Vault Stakers on KiloEx
Hybrid Vault Stakers’ principal and earnings during the suspension period remain unaffected. The platform recovered and fully reinjected all stolen funds into the Hybrid Vault.
Nevertheless, KiloEx will still, based on eligibility, incentivize this cohort of users with a Special Yield Boost Campaign upon resuming.
“Users will receive an additional 10% APY on top of the base platform yield. The bonus yield will be paid out in USDT,” read an excerpt in the Medium post.
Instructions for KiloEx VIP Users
For this cohort of KiloEx $7 million hack victims, there will be a +1 level upgrade, excluding VIP7 users. However, all affected users, including VIP7, will also get a 30-day VIP status protection period.
Notably, the VIP status was determined based on a real-time snapshot taken at the time of the KiloEx security incident.
KiloEx Details Resumption Plans After Audits and Consultation
BeInCrypto reported that KiloEx suspended its platform following the attack, amidst collaborations with security partners to investigate the breach and track stolen funds.
Like the Zksync incident, it also commissioned a bounty program to encourage whitehat assistance and recover user assets. Following these measures and due diligence, the platform is ready to resume operations.
“KiloEx is coming back! Following a thorough security audit by SlowMist, we are officially resuming soon,” the DEX shared.
Blockchain security firm SlowMist corroborated the report, detailing its involvement in resolving the KiloEx incident.
“Recently, SlowMist helped KiloEx communicate with the attacker via on-chain messages, leading to the recovery of $8.44 million in stolen funds,” SlowMist wrote.
Further, the security firm highlighted the role of on-chain messaging in the recovery, presenting it as a crucial communication tool in blockchain, including security incidents.
Despite the news about resumption and compensation, KiloEx’s native token, KILO, is down by over 5%. As of this writing, it was trading for $0.0425 on CoinGecko.
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla CEO, has long been a kingmaker in meme coins. His endorsements have historically sent tokens like Dogecoin (DOGE) soaring. However, his latest “Gorklon Rust” stunt has sparked a rally that, while notable, pales compared to past frenzies.
With GORK’s inability to reach $100 million market cap, market watchers are raising questions: Is Musk’s influence over meme coins waning in 2025?
Musk’s Meme Coin Influence Isn’t What It Used to Be, Analysts Claim
On May 4, Musk’s shift to “Gorklon Rust” and a GORK-themed profile picture on X ignited a surge in the Solana (SOL)-based GORK meme coin. Despite this, it could not reach a $100 million market capitalization.
“Pretty wild that not even Elon Musk changing his pfp has a significant impact anymore. GORK went from $45 million to $75 million market cap, and now back to $65 million,” an analyst wrote.
Many others shared a similar sentiment, highlighting the fading influence of Musk’s antics.
“State of alt liquidity: Elon Musk, with 200 million followers, shills a meme — barely pushing it over $50 million,” analyst Him added.
This isn’t a one-off incident. In February 2025, Musk’s brief Harry Bōlz rebrand drove the HARRYBOLZ token to a market cap of just $9.5 million. Moreover, in December 2024, when Musk endorsed “Kekius Maximus” as a username, KEKIUS’ market cap reached slightly over $88 million.
“Elon is literally the single most powerful player in the world today when it comes to starting meme coin movements. He has inspired/fueled the biggest meme coin movements in the world today mostly through a few tweets: doge, shiba inu, floki, etc,” a user posted in September 2024.
However, recent data tells a different story. The disparity suggests Musk’s influence is less scalable. While he can still spark short-term pumps for smaller tokens, pushing meme coins to $100 million or beyond appears increasingly out of reach.
“Notice how Elon Musk used to move billions in market cap with a single tweet, and now him even changing his pfp can’t even add $50 million to already super low trading meme coins. It means that people are really getting tired and moving on from chasing the next meme coin,” analyst Ajay Kashyap said.
That’s not all. Even when Musk does spark a rally, the gains are fleeting. GORK’s rapid rise and fall is a case in point. Its market cap has plunged to just $35 million at press time, according to CoinGecko data.
“Either this still has time to run, or Musk doesn’t quite have the same effect on the Meme coin market like DOGE in 2021,” another analyst stated.
Meanwhile, a market watcher stressed that Elon Musk’s impact on the cryptocurrency market, particularly with meme coins, is unlikely to be as significant as it was in the past.
He noted that the conditions when Musk’s influence peaked differ greatly from the current market. The cryptocurrency space has seen a surge in the number of meme coins, and as a result, the money has been spread across numerous assets, diluting the potential impact of Musk’s endorsements.
These knockoffs dilute the original token’s performance by splitting investor capital and sowing confusion. This trend also harms perception, as copycats often turn out to be pump-and-dumps. The proliferation of fakes further undermines trust in Musk-driven tokens, capping their potential.
Thus, while Musk retains the ability to generate some market interest, the era of him single-handedly propelling meme coins to extraordinary valuations may well be behind us.
The XRP price struggles continue with the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit pause, a delay in XRP ETF approval, and amid the ongoing macroeconomic events. A much-needed catalyst is the updates on these three factors. Interestingly, something might be happening on May 1 and June 9, as an expert claims a BlackRock insider advised him to watch these dates. Why? Let’s discuss.
Why Are Experts Eyeing May 1 and June 9 for XRP Price?
April is near its end and has not been entirely favorable for the crypto market’s performance, affecting the XRP price as well. The altcoin had a massive decline to $1.65 before recovering to $2.27. However, this is nowhere near the anticipated targets.
Crypto analyst Bale’s X post claims his insider friend at BlackRock has highlighted two key dates, i.e., May 1 and June 9. Although his post did not include any context of what’s happening, the crypto community anticipates it as a potential date for BlackRock’s XRP ETF filing or some similar bullish events, like the end of the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit.
Grayscale, Bitwise, and other ETF issuers have already filed for more than 15 XRP ETFs. Teucrium launched a leverage XRP ETF, and CME is set to launch one on May 19, and a few more around the globe.
However, BlackRock has not filed any yet. Some anticipate it as a lack of trust in this digital asset. However, experts anticipate it to be their cautious approach, which might settle this May 1 or June 9.
A fellow investor highlighted that it can be related to the 1 billion Ripple token release from escrow. Notably, these tokens are not released in the market. Instead, they are distributed among crypto exchanges and liquidity providers to provide liquidity.
The remaining ones get sent back to the Ripple, but this dilutes the supply, affecting the Ripple price.
XRP Price Prediction: A Crash is Forming
The Ripple token is at a critical juncture where its next move will decide its trajectory. The XRP price chart shows mixed signals, and so are the experts’ predictions. Pseudo-anonymous crypto analyst Bit Bull claims that the token has already touched the upper trendline resistance and will move downwards next.
His analysis is based on the liquidation data, as it reveals investors are opening more short positions, suggesting XRP may continue to fall.
Another analyst points out that the Ripple token is below the bull market support band (the one behind the March rally). As a result, a potential crash to $1.24 is possible before the upward momentum builds. Interestingly, this level coincided with the 2024 end breakout to $3.4.
However, this is just anticipation considering current conditions. Experts also anticipate different results based on different metrics. Therefore, investors must track XRP’s further move for better insight, especially as May 1 and June 9 are approaching.
