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Garantex, a Russian crypto exchange under US sanctions, accused Tether of attacking the Russian crypto market. 

According to the exchange’s Telegram announcement, Tether has frozen several USDT wallets on the exchange, which are worth over $28 million. 

USDT Holders in Russia are At Risk

Garantex stated that USDT stablecoins in user wallets are at risk. Several USDT funds held by users in the exchange have been frozen. To manage the situation, Garantex has temporarily halted all operations. 

Co-founder Sergey Mendeleev stated that this action disrupts Russia’s international trade carried out with digital assets. 

“We temporarily suspend the provision of all services, including cryptocurrency findings, for a while while we are solving this problem with the whole team. We fight and don’t give up!” Garantex wrote on Telegram. 

Further, he warned that the freeze creates difficulties for businesses and financial institutions that depend on crypto to settle international payments. 

Back in December, Russia’s Finance Minister confirmed that the country has been increasingly using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for international trade amid sanctions. 

“While we discussed easing tensions and relaxing sanctions, we were deceived once again. Suddenly, the paradigm shifted: earlier, sanctions were merely glossed over, but now they block without trial or investigation. This is exactly the reality I have warned about for at least two years, yet neither the Central Bank nor the professional community listened,” — wrote Mendeleev.

Mendeleev stressed that the disruption affects Russia’s economic engagements on a broader scale. Western sanctions have forced digital currencies to play a vital role in international settlements. The current incident further complicates those processes. 

The exchange’s claim draws attention to mounting regulatory pressure and a growing conflict between US authorities and market players operating in Russian jurisdictions.

Garantex Sanction Explained

State Duma deputy Anton Gorelkin added his perspective on the incident. He pointed out that Tether’s decision reflects a broader trend of pressure applied by Western regulators on crypto infrastructure amid ongoing sanctions. 

Gorelkin highlighted that centralized stablecoins like USDT remain particularly exposed to outside control. Despite the blockade, he expressed confidence that it is impossible to completely shut down the Russian crypto market. 

Garantex first encountered regulatory challenges in April 2022. US authorities imposed sanctions following the intensification of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

Officials charged the exchange with failing to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules. US agencies claimed that Garantex played a role in laundering over $100 million linked to hacker groups and dark web transactions.

In March of last year, law enforcement agencies from the US and UK began an investigation into Garantex. They reviewed crypto transactions totaling more than $20 billion made using USDT. 

This probe reflects the ongoing tensions between regulators and crypto operators in sanctioned environments.

The post Tether Freezes $28 million USDT on Russian Exchange Garantex appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Pi Network has recently witnessed a 12% price rally, briefly reaching $0.65 during intra-day trading, only to fall back down to $0.61. Despite this uptick, the altcoin has struggled to break free from consolidation, as weak investor sentiment continues to weigh heavily on its price.

A glimmer of hope comes from an ecosystem announcement scheduled for May 14, which could offer some positive news and potentially trigger a more substantial rally.

Pi Network Is Losing Investor Interest

Investor sentiment surrounding Pi Network has been weak for the past month, with little to no interest from the broader market. This lack of enthusiasm has hindered the altcoin’s ability to break free from consolidation and achieve a sustained price increase.

This investor apathy has created a significant challenge for Pi Network, as it lacks the backing needed to push its price higher. While the market has shown some bullish tendencies, especially following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged, Pi Network has struggled to translate this into sustained momentum. 

The overall macro momentum of Pi Network shows mixed signals. On the one hand, the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) indicator barely exhibits bullishness, with the histogram showing small green bars. While this suggests slight positive momentum, it is not enough to trigger a rally. 

This indicates that the market’s broader bullish cues are preventing a bearish crossover, helping to keep Pi Network’s price afloat despite investor hesitation. However, the lack of strong bullish signals from the MACD means that Pi Network is still struggling to gain significant upward traction.

PI Price Can’t Catch A Break

Pi Network’s price grew by 12% over the last 24 hours, briefly reaching $0.65 before falling back to $0.61. This uptick was fueled by broader market bullishness following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. However, the altcoin has struggled to maintain its gains, indicating a lack of strong support from investors to push the price higher.

Pi Network continues to consolidate, stuck between $0.61 and $0.57. This ongoing range-bound movement suggests that the altcoin lacks sufficient momentum to break out of its consolidation phase. The price will likely continue moving within this range unless both market and investor support are bolstered, which remains uncertain at this point.

On the other hand, Pi Network could invalidate the bearish outlook if it secures $0.61 as support and begins to rise towards $0.71. Successfully breaching $0.71 could instill confidence in investors, potentially triggering a more substantial rally. However, without a clear shift in sentiment, the price may continue to struggle.

The post Pi Price Soars 12% in 24 Hours Ahead of Major Ecosystem Announcement appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Airdrop activity continues to heat up, with three newly launched tokens—SXT, RIZE, and DOOD—drawing investor attention in the fourth week of May. Space and Time launched its SXT token with an airdrop as a part of the new Chainlink rewards program.

Meanwhile, RIZE powers the Rizenet ecosystem, which is focused on tokenization and decentralized AI. DOOD, the native token of the Doodles NFT collection, joins the wave of NFT projects following the footsteps of APE and PENGU.

Space and Time (SXT)

The latest Space and Time (SXT) airdrop launched on May 8, 2025, as part of its official token generation event (TGE). The airdrop is integrated with Binance Launchpool and Chainlink’s new Rewards program.

The project is distributing 200 million SXT tokens into two batches, representing 4% of the total supply. Eligible users include participants in the Chainlink ecosystem, including LINK stakers, users who engaged in Space and Time’s testnet, and held Community NFTs.

Also, the SXT airdrop claim will be live until June 22.

SXT has been down since its airdrop, and if the correction continues, it could soon start trading below $0.10.

It needs a strong buying pressure to return to levels around $0.126, and if that one is broken, it could rise back to test the resistance around $0.163.

RIZE

RIZE is the native utility token of Rizenet, a decentralized platform for tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), decentralized AI (DeAI), and DeFi.

The $RIZE token has multiple uses. It pays for tokenization services, grants access to tokenized assets, enables governance through token locking, and rewards contributions to decentralized AI models. RIZE is currently live on Kraken and Aerodrome.

From a technical standpoint, the RIZE token is at a critical point. If it manages to break through the resistance level at $0.064, bullish momentum could drive the price back toward the $0.10 region.

However, failure to maintain its current support at $0.0485 may trigger a downside move, with potential losses extending below the $0.040 mark.

Doodles

Doodles is a well-known NFT collection that originally gained popularity for its colorful, hand-drawn characters and strong community engagement.

It recently launched its own token, DOOD, marking its entry into the growing trend of NFT-native tokens—a path first carved out by Bored Ape Yacht Club with APE and later followed by Pudgy Penguins with the PENGU token in 2024.

Despite the initial excitement surrounding the DOOD airdrop, the token has struggled to maintain upward momentum, falling 35% over the last five days.

The price now faces a key resistance at $0.0052—breaking above this level would be necessary to signal a potential recovery and open the door for a move toward $0.00735.

However, continued bearish pressure could push DOOD below the $0.0040 support, marking new lows and further eroding market confidence.

The post 3 Latest Airdrop Tokens to Watch for the Fourth Week of May appeared first on BeInCrypto.