A senior official from Russia’s Finance Ministry has called for the development of stablecoins linked to foreign currencies after wallets connected to Russian users and holding USDT were frozen last month.
The move comes as US-backed stablecoins dominate global liquidity and Washington moves closer to introducing new regulations for the sector.
Russia Might Enter the Stablecoin Market
The ongoing pro-regulatory shift is drawing in new projects targeting the US market. Russia, facing growing financial restrictions, sees a digital alternative as increasingly necessary.
A ruble-backed token could reduce the region’s reliance on USDT and USDC, which both track the US dollar. Such a shift would support Russia’s long-term effort to move away from dollar-based trade.
Elvira Nabiullina, head of Russia’s central bank, remains against using crypto for domestic payments. However, she confirmed that several Russian firms are testing international crypto transfers as part of a government-led trial.
Russia has explored stablecoin initiatives before. In 2023, its central bank reportedly discussed a gold-backed digital currency with Iran, intended for cross-border use and positioned as an alternative to the dollar.
The urgency of Russia’s stablecoin push increased after Tether blocked wallets on the Garantex exchange, freezing assets worth more than 2.5 billion rubles ($30 million). The incident occurred shortly after Garantex was hit with European Union sanctions.
ZKsync’s official X (formerly Twitter) account was briefly compromised to promote a fake ZK token airdrop.
The fraudulent post claimed that every follower was eligible to claim a share of the initial token supply. It directed users to a suspicious link: “distribution-zksync.io.”
The post remained live for approximately 15 minutes before being deleted. As of now, ZKsync has not issued any public statement confirming the breach.
Despite the hack, there has been no significant immediate impact on the ZK token price, yet. However, further fallout could still materialize if user trust erodes.
Security experts warn users to remain cautious and avoid interacting with any unverified links related to token distributions.
This incident highlights the growing frequency of social media breaches targeting major crypto projects.
Pi Network (PI) is back in the spotlight after an 11% price surge triggered by the withdrawal of over 86 million tokens from OKX, sparking speculation of a coordinated supply squeeze. The move has intensified bullish sentiment, especially as technical indicators begin to align with the price action.
Momentum indicators like the DMI and EMA suggest growing strength, and a potential golden cross formation hints at the possibility of a continued breakout. However, not all signals are fully confirmed—volume-based metrics like the CMF show lingering indecision, making the next few days critical for confirming PI’s direction.
Technical Indicators Support PI Rally Amid Supply Shock Speculation
The sudden exodus of tokens sparked speculation of a coordinated supply squeeze, with some investors interpreting the move as a strategic effort by large holders to limit circulating supply and potentially drive the price higher.
Community voices on X described the event as a “power move,” pointing to growing confidence in the asset’s future trajectory.
While this triggered bullish momentum and boosted PI to the top of CoinGecko’s trending list, questions still linger regarding its long-term fundamentals, particularly its mainnet rollout, exchange listings, and broader use-case development.
From a technical perspective, PI’s Directional Movement Index (DMI) shows signs of growing strength. The ADX—a metric that measures the strength of a trend—has climbed from 12.46 to 16.6 in the past day, signaling that momentum is building. Typically, ADX values above 20 indicate a developing trend, with readings above 25 considered strong.
Meanwhile, the +DI line, which tracks bullish pressure, sits at 25.98—up from 20.14 yesterday, though slightly down from its peak earlier today at 29.15. The -DI, representing bearish pressure, has dropped significantly to 14.45 from 20.84 yesterday.
This divergence suggests that bulls are gaining control and sellers are stepping back, supporting the narrative that Pi Network may be entering a more decisive upward trend if this momentum continues.
PI CMF Drops After Brief Spike, Signaling Fading Buying Pressure
Despite the recent surge, PI CMF is now at -0.03.
Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), a volume-based oscillator that measures buying and selling pressure over a given period. CMF values range from -1 to +1, with readings above 0 suggesting accumulation (buying pressure) and below 0 indicating distribution (selling pressure).
Currently, PI’s CMF stands at -0.03—a notable improvement from -0.17 two days ago but a pullback from yesterday’s +0.09.
This shift shows that while the overall selling pressure has eased significantly, the recent dip back below the zero line suggests that buyers haven’t fully taken control. A CMF hovering around the neutral zone could imply indecision in the market or a pause after the recent rally.
For bulls to regain full momentum, the CMF would ideally need to push back into positive territory and hold, confirming sustained capital inflows and supporting the case for continued upside.
Golden Cross Setup Builds for PI, But Key Resistance Still in Play
Pi Network’s EMA lines are starting to align in a bullish setup, with a potential golden cross formation on the horizon. A golden cross occurs when a short-term EMA crosses above a long-term EMA, signaling the possibility of a sustained uptrend.
If this pattern confirms, PI price could gain enough momentum to challenge the resistance at $0.96.
A breakout above that level may open the door for further gains toward $1.30, and with strong follow-through, the price could even reach $1.67—levels not seen in recent trading activity.
However, the bullish scenario is not guaranteed. If the current uptrend loses steam and buying pressure weakens, Pi Network could retrace to test support at $0.66.
A breakdown below that level would likely shift sentiment more bearish, exposing the token to further downside toward $0.57.
While technical signals lean optimistic for now, traders will be closely watching whether the golden cross materializes and if resistance levels can be cleared convincingly.
(@pseudotheos) 
