On Tuesday, a large Solana whale transferred 494,153 SOL—valued at approximately $72 million—to the Coinbase exchange, raising concerns over a potential sell-off.
Large exchange inflows like this often signal impending selling pressure, putting SOL’s recent gains at risk.
$72 Million in SOL Hits Coinbase, Weighing on Market Sentiment
According to Whale Alert, a SOL whale transferred 494,153 SOL valued at $72 million to Coinbase Institutional on Tuesday. Significant exchange inflows such as this mean that large investors are moving their holdings from private wallets to exchanges, often signaling an intent to sell.
This increased supply on exchanges can increase the downward pressure on the SOL price, especially if there is insufficient demand to absorb the selling. As a result, its price may decline in the near term, leading to further sell-offs.
Moreover, the coin’s negative weighted sentiment heightens the risk of this selloff. At press time, this key metric is below zero at -0.51.
An asset’s weighted sentiment analyzes social media and online platforms to measure the overall tone (positive or negative) surrounding it. It considers the volume of mentions and the ratio of positive to negative comments. When weighted sentiment is positive, it indicates more positive comments and discussions about the cryptocurrency than negative ones.
On the other hand, when it is negative, the overall market sentiment is bearish, with more negative commentary and pessimism outweighing positive discussions about the asset.
This trend can increase selling pressure in the SOL market, discourage new demand, and contribute to its price decline as traders react to the prevailing bearish outlook.
Will Solana Drop to $138 or Surge to $160?
At press time, SOL trades at $145.84. If the whale selloff prompts retail traders to distribute their coins, SOL’s price may plummet to $138.84.
However, on the daily chart, SOL bulls appear ready to defend key levels. Readings from technical indicators, including the Parabolic SAR, suggest that buying momentum is gaining strength.
At press time, the dots that make up this momentum indicator rest below SOL’s price, offering dynamic support. When an asset’s Parabolic SAR is set up this way, it signals a bullish trend. It hints at the possibility of a rally in SOL’s price in the short term. If this happens, the coin could exchange hands at $160.34.
Bitget exchange, in collaboration with blockchain security firms SlowMist and Elliptic, has exposed the terrifying anatomy of the most advanced crypto scams in recent times.
These findings come amid rising security incidents, ranging from high-profile attacks to government involvement in crypto laundering attacks.
AI Deepfakes, Social Tactics Behind 2025 Crypto Scam Rise: Bitget Report
The report cites AI deepfakes, weaponized psychology, and social engineering. It lays bare how bad actors use synthetic videos, virtual identities, and fake crypto meetings to deceive users and dismantle trust in the Web3 ecosystem.
A key finding in the report is that in 2025, scams will go beyond stealing user keys to hijack victims’ realities. From celebrity deepfakes to Trojan job offers and fake Zoom meetings, the latest scams blend high-tech deception with low-tech manipulation.
Bitget’s report categorizes the most dangerous threats under three pillars: deepfake impersonation, social engineering scams, and advanced Ponzi schemes. The most insidious are deepfakes.
AI Deepfakes Blur the Line Between Real and Fake
In early 2025, Hong Kong police arrested 31 individuals in a deepfake scam syndicate. Perpetrators stole $34 million by impersonating crypto executives during fake investment calls. This was just one of 87 similar operations dismantled across Asia in Q1 alone.
“…attackers using AI synthesis tools to fabricate audio and video likenesses of well-known project founders, exchange executives, or community KOLs in order to mislead users. These fabricated materials are often highly realistic,” read an excerpt in the report shared with BeInCrypto.
With tools like Synthesia, ElevenLabs, and HeyGen, attackers fabricate dynamic likenesses of public figures. Named victims include Elon Musk and Singapore’s Prime Minister. Bad actors create convincing videos to promote fraudulent platforms.
These videos are often distributed on social channels like Telegram, X (Twitter), and YouTube Shorts. Based on the report, they turn off comments to maintain a façade of legitimacy.
One case involved deepfake clips of Singapore Minister Lee Hsien Loong endorsing a “government-backed crypto initiative.” The campaign reportedly ensnared thousands before it was flagged.
Zoom, but Make It a Scam
Another disturbing tactic involves impersonating Zoom. Victims receive fake meeting invites from “crypto executives,” prompting them to download Trojan-laced software.
During the meeting, scammers use deepfake avatars and fabricated credentials to trick users into sharing wallet access or approving malicious transactions.
“The people luring you to download fake Zoom for meetings are extremely persuasive, making you feel it’s unlikely to be fake. A key point is that the participants you see during the meeting are actually displayed using deepfake videos… Don’t doubt it, in the AI era, video and voice forgery can be extremely realistic…,” SlowMist founder Cos shared on X.
Once inside the system, attackers can access browser data, cloud storage, or private keys, exposing users to total account compromise. These multi-layered attacks represent a new “identity hijack” category combining technical infiltration and social trust manipulation.
Social Engineering to Exploit Human Vulnerability
Bitget’s report stresses that modern scams rely as much on psychology as code. One notable trend is the rise of “AI arbitrage bot” scams, where scammers promise effortless gains using ChatGPT-branded smart contracts.
Bad actors trick users into deploying malicious code via fake Remix IDE pages, and their funds are instantly rerouted to scammer wallets.
What’s worse? These schemes are often small-scale, targeting victims for $50–$200 at a time. While the losses are minor enough to deter pursuit, they are frequent enough to generate large cumulative profits for attackers.
Ponzi Schemes Behind Promised Yields
Beyond AI-generated scams, Bitget also warns that traditional Ponzi and pyramid schemes have not disappeared, but have mutated. Specifically, these scams have undergone a “digital evolution,” leveraging on-chain tools, rapid viral marketing, and the illusion of legitimacy through smart contracts.
Instead of opaque offshore bank accounts, modern-day fraudsters attract victims through Telegram groups, Twitter hype, and tokens with built-in referral mechanics.
Smart contracts give these scams a thin veneer of decentralization and transparency. Meanwhile, carefully obfuscated tokenomics mimic legitimate yield structures until the inevitable collapse.
A potent mix of social engineering and digital virality is fueling this transformation. Influencers and anonymous promoters often seed these scams through memes, testimonials, or even AI-generated videos posing as reputable figures.
Projects disguised as “community-driven” DAOs or staking protocols rope users in with unsustainable returns, creating a frenzy of buy-ins that mask the exit liquidity strategy.
As regulation struggles to catch up, the speed and scale at which these digital Ponzi schemes propagate make them harder to track.
A Call for Skepticism and Collective Defense
Against this backdrop, Bitget has launched a dedicated Anti-Scam Hub, integrating real-time behavioral analytics to flag suspicious activity.
It has partnered with Elliptic and SlowMist to trace illicit fund flows and dismantle phishing infrastructures across multiple chains.
The report urges users to verify all asset-related instructions across multiple channels, noting that visual and auditory credibility is no longer enough. It also encourages projects to adopt on-chain signature broadcasts and maintain a single verified communication channel.
Scam Red Flags and Protection Measures. Source: Bitget report
With scams advancing, so must user and ecosystem defenses. The crypto industry now faces a dual challenge: safeguarding assets and rebuilding user trust in a digital world where anyone can be anyone.
Chainlink announced today that it’s partnering with Mastercard, allowing billions of cardholders to purchase crypto directly on-chain. The companies’ new infrastructure will indirectly interface clients with multiple DEXs.
In addition to these two leaders, several other companies, such as ZeroHash, Swapper Finance, Shift4, and XSwap, are joining the endeavor. Uniswap has agreed to participate as a DEX directly interfacing with the platform.
By partnering with Mastercard, Chainlink will be able to turbocharge this overarching strategy. Essentially, this will combine an industry standard for interoperability with billions of potential users:
We’re excited to announce that Chainlink and @Mastercard have partnered to enable billions of cardholders to purchase crypto directly onchain.https://t.co/1pKz03jQ7t
To be clear, these companies are formidable, but Chainlink and Mastercard can’t build this kind of infrastructure on their own.
The two firms have partnered with several ancillary companies, like Swapper Finance, Shift4, Zerohash, and more to provide liquidity, execute smart contracts, power the underlying platform, and perform other such functions.
As a result, these companies’ combined result is quite formidable. As Chris Barrett, Chainlink’s Head of Communications, put it, Mastercard clients will be able to integrate with major decentralized exchanges.
Uniswap is already participating in the program. This will give Mastercard’s enormous user base access to a very broad range of available cryptoassets.
Chainlink’s Mastercard Infrastructure. Source: Chris Barrett
Mastercard has ventured into the crypto industry before, but this Chainlink partnership is on a whole new level. Raj Dhamodharan, the firm’s Executive Vice President of Blockchain and digital Assets, called the new infrastructure a way to “revolutionize on-chain commerce” and drive global crypto adoption.
Although Chainlink’s LINK token isn’t directly involved in the Mastercard partnership, it still stands to benefit. Despite hitting a monthly low earlier this week, the token’s price has skyrocketed in the last few hours, recovering around 8% since yesterday.
The platform for this massive crypto expansion is already live, allowing users to experiment with this new infrastructure layer. Chainlink and Mastercard have their work cut out for them, setting some extremely ambitious goals.
If even a fraction of the credit card company’s users participate in the program, it could enable truly massive crypto adoption.
