As US President Donald Trump and his family increase their engagement in digital assets, the cryptocurrency globe is abuzz with debate over transparency, regulatory control, and possible corruption. Their projects comprise two popular meme coins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, a token-issuing exchange named World Liberty Financial, and American Bitcoin, a crypto mining company slated to go public backed by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. These endeavors, which have been reported to increase Trump’s net worth by nearly 40% — approximately $2.9 billion — are giving the Trumps unprecedented opportunities for financial influence, particularly given the anonymity and global reach of cryptocurrencies. For instance, at a recent private dinner for top $TRUMP meme coin holders, CNN reports that the top 25 holders were promised direct access to President Trump and a “VIP tour” of one of his private clubs. In an interview with CNN, Jordan Libowitz, the vice president for communications at… Read More at Coingape.com
After years of being branded a ghost chain, Cardano has overtaken Ethereum in core developer activity. The flippening in this metric is fanning fresh enthusiasm that a sustained rally for Cardano price is on the horizon.
Cardano Ranks As Number 1 In Core Developer Activity
According to data from Cryptometheus, Cardano’s core developer activity has surpassed Ethereum over the last year. Per the developer tracker platform, Cardano now ranks in first place after flipping Ethereum with 21,439 GitHub commits in 12 months.
In the period under review, Cardano GitHub commits cut across 550 core repositories. A closer look at Cryptometheus data reveals 12 core projects, while the broader ecosystem is buzzing with 36 projects.
Developer activity on the 36 projects is red-hot, pulling in 4276 GitHub repositories and dousing previous speculation that Cardano is a ghost chain with no clear utility.
The glowing Cardano metrics leave Ethereum in second place after an underwhelming year. Cumulative developer activity on the Ethereum network stood at 20,962 commits, while its core developers did not pull in the same activity levels as Cardano.
Following a poor run of form, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson predicts that Ethereum will crash in 2040. Hoskinson points to Ethereum’s outdated tech, layer 2 fragmentation, and falling developer activity as indicators of a decline.
Ethereum’s position in second place is precarious, given the impressive developer activity recorded by the third-placed Internet Computer. However, a new Ethereum Foundation vision designed to scale the layer 1 may trigger a resurgence in developer activity for the largest altcoin.
ADA Price Set To Record 100% Rally
The impressive on-chain numbers are stoking enthusiasm for a Cardano price rally in the future. At the moment, ADA trades at $0.70 while holding onto a key support level, which the pseudonymous T0ken Talk says could trigger a rally.
Per Token Talk, the incoming rally will see Cardano price surge by up to 100% in this cycle. Zooming out, the cryptoanalyst predicts that ADA can reach a valuation of $10 by 2029.
“ADA sideways around $0.70, but holding key support,” said Token Talk. “Analyst eye potential 100% recovery to $1.20-$1.30.”
For now, the forming of a golden cross sees ADA target $1 amid $20M worth of ADA leaving exchanges. Cardano is angling for ecosystem partnership and is inching toward XRP integration for its Lace Wallet. The partnership is touted to have mutual benefits for both parties, including price performance and broader ecosystem utility.
The state of security across the crypto and blockchain space has changed significantly in the past few months. Traditional smart contracts exploited or brute force attacks on blockchain networks are being superseded by crypto scams like rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes.
BeInCrypto spoke with a spokesperson from security firm CertiK to understand how blockchain and security threats are evolving and how projects and users can safeguard against future exploits.
Social Media Hacks on the Rise
Over the past few months, the crypto community has seen a rise in social media-related hacks. This increasingly common tendency has pivoted away from the orchestration of more sophisticated blockchain attacks that have traditionally plagued headlines.
Whereas smart contract exploits or blockchain hacks require more knowledge, hackers have found an easier avenue by targeting social media accounts instead.
X (formerly Twitter) has quickly become the social media platform of choice among Web3 hackers.
Social Media is Now a Prime Target for Web3 Hackers
After US President Donald Trump launched his meme coin only two days before assuming office, hackers began to take advantage of the hype to hack high-profile X accounts and convince followers to invest in scam meme coins.
Last month, anonymous hackers took over the X account of the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to promote MALAYSIA, a fake meme coin promoted as the country’s official cryptocurrency.
The post was removed within an hour, but the damage was done. Analysis shows that these hackers were probably related to the infamous Russian Evil Corp and that they stole $1.7 million in this rug pull.
The MALAYSIA token scam happened only two weeks after hackers exploited former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s social media account. In that instance, scammers promoted the BRAZIL token, which rose over 10,000% in minutes, netting the scammers over $1.3 million.
These scams have also affected technological companies.
Attacks on Tech Companies
In December, AI research and development company Anthropic also saw its X account hacked. A fraudulent post claimed that a fake token called CLAUDE would incentivize AI and crypto projects and included a wallet address for investors.
Attackers managed to collect around $100,000 from speculative investors.
These situations also highlight a broader issue of weak account security on social media platforms. As a result, even prominent individuals are susceptible to security breaches that directly affect the crypto community.
TRUMP Meme Coin Launch Was a Catalyst For Crypto Scams
“Now is the time to talk about the fact that large-scale political coins cross a further line: they are not just sources of fun, whose harm is at most contained to mistakes made by voluntary participants, they are vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign nation states,” Buterin claimed.
Buterin highlighted the tokens’ role in enabling scams and political corruption in crypto and blamed a regulatory loophole former SEC Chair Gary Gensler created for allowing bad actors to exploit governance tokens.
However, these crypto scams extend beyond political themes.
Growth of Social Engineering Exploits
A week after Buterin cautioned against political meme coins, a Coinbase user lost $11.5 million after falling victim to a social engineering scam on Base.
Crypto sleuth ZackXBT uncovered the exploit, pointing out that this incident is part of a growing trend, with multiple Coinbase users suffering similar losses. He also estimates that crypto scams of this nature have drained at least $150 million from Coinbase customers.
“Coinbase has a serious fraud problem. I just uncovered many more recent thefts from Coinbase users. The $150 million stolen from Coinbase users in a year is just from thefts I independently confirmed. So it’s more than likely multiples of this number,” ZachXBT stated.
In social engineering scams, attackers use phishing emails, spoofed calls, and other deceptive tactics to trick victims into revealing private keys or login credentials. Once they gain access, they drain wallets, move funds, and take control of accounts.
For CertiK, these situations stipulate the need for stronger security measures.
Addressing these security challenges is crucial as new crypto projects increase exponentially.
Prioritizing Proactive Security in a Rapidly Growing Industry
The Web3 sector is experiencing consistent growth, marked by a surge in new crypto project launches. This innovative momentum is expected to continue, but it’s also fueling security concerns.
Notably, the increasing rate of scams and hacks in the first three months of 2025 makes it clear that security efforts are struggling to keep up with innovation.
A study by Precedence Research estimates the Web 3.0 market will expand from USD 4.62 billion in 2025 to approximately USD 99.75 billion by 2034, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.18% during that period.
Predicted market size of Web3 in the next ten years. Source: Precedence Research.
Yet, CertiK believes that project developers are pushing security considerations toward the end of the priority list.
As the Web3 ecosystem evolves, a proactive and adaptive security approach is critical. Prioritizing both blockchain integrity and social media vigilance will be essential for safeguarding the growing Web3 ecosystem.
The battle against these exploits requires a future where security is not an afterthought but a foundational pillar of every Web3 project and user interaction.
XRP has experienced significant price movements recently, especially with the massive accumulation by whales. Over the past week, large holders have been quietly stacking up XRP, potentially positioning the altcoin for a significant price boost.
Their actions, combined with a resilient market, present an optimistic outlook for the altcoin’s future.
XRP Investors Are Betting on Recovery
Whale addresses holding between 100 million and 1 billion XRP have added 1.34 billion XRP worth over $3.26 billion in the past week. While some speculated this accumulation was linked to XRP’s inclusion in the US Crypto Reserve, it appears the whales were primarily buying at low prices.
This indicates that these large holders anticipate further gains. Despite XRP’s 18% crash on Monday, the whales did not sell, suggesting they are confident in the asset’s long-term potential.
The price DAA Divergence is currently flashing a buy signal for XRP as investors demonstrate resilience amid challenging market conditions. This divergence indicates that, while the broader market has experienced volatility, XRP is showing strength. With more investors holding onto their positions and fewer opting to sell, the sentiment is clearly turning bullish.
As market conditions improve, investors’ buying pressure could continue to push XRP’s price higher. This would support the possibility of a sustained rally backed by both retail and whale participation.
XRP is trading at $2.45, holding steady above the critical support level of $2.33. After facing considerable volatility over the weekend, the altcoin managed to stabilize, posting a 37% price increase. This move suggests that XRP could have the momentum needed for further gains if the bullish trend continues.
However, despite the positive signals, XRP still failed to secure $2.70 as support on Sunday, which prevented the altcoin from pushing higher. If XRP can manage to flip $2.70 into support, it could break through the $2.95 resistance, bringing it closer to its previous highs.
If the altcoin fails to breach $2.70, XRP could experience consolidation above $2.33, as seen in previous price action. This could delay the bullish outlook and may prevent any immediate upward movement, resulting in a temporary stagnation until the market provides more clarity.
