President Trump is again urging lower interest rates after bullish US employment data. Some analysts are hopeful that new rate cuts will generate positive momentum for Bitcoin.
However, there are no signs that Powell will change his mind. If anything, it’s even less likely. Tariffs could cause unprecedented chaos, and the economy doesn’t need rate cuts to survive right now.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000, far outperforming expectations, while unemployment remained steady and wages went up. This prompted President Trump to ask once again for cuts to the interest rate:
Gasoline just broke $1.98 a Gallon, lowest in years, groceries (and eggs!) down, energy down, mortgage rates down, employment strong, and much more good news, as Billions of Dollars pour in from Tariffs. Just like I said, and we’re only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 2, 2025
President Trump has repeatedly asked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. The crypto industry has also heavily advocated for such a move, which would encourage investment in risk-on assets.
Powell’s position has been very consistent. Tariffs could severely damage the economy, and the Federal Reserve needs to keep its powder dry to stave off future collapse. If it cut rates after bullish news, the Fed would have one less potential tool in the event of a real crisis.
To put it bluntly, there is a very low chance that Trump will get his desired rate cuts soon. Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, explained why the bullish report actually makes rate cuts less likely:
“I’m almost certain that the Fed remains on hold at its next meeting. The real economy (so far) is strong enough to not warrant a rate cut. And the big questions are all just over the horizon. Powell has been clear: He doesn’t want to guess what’s over that horizon, he wants to wait & see. The report is absolutely legit. White House interpretations are a different issue,” he said.
The founder of Yescoin, a tap-to-earn game on Telegram, has apparently been arrested by Shanghai law enforcement. The project still hasn’t launched a token, citing delays due to repeated cyberattacks, and the community is growing restless.
Yescoin’s statement assured users that operations would continue as normal, but it gave very few details about the dispute or criminal charges. Hopefully, everyone involved is acting in good faith, and its token launch will happen on March 31.
Today, however, Yescoin has encountered legal trouble, as its pseudonymous founder, Zoroo, was arrested by Shanghai law enforcement:
“We regret to inform you that Zoroo, the founder of Yescoin, has been taken away from Hangzhou by Shanghai police due to a dispute with his business partner, OldWang. What began as a business disagreement between partners has now escalated into a criminal case. We would like to assure everyone that Yescoin continues to operate normally,” the firm claimed.
Other than this statement, very few details about the arrest have come to light. Shanghai is nearly 200 kilometers away from Hangzhou and is in a totally different administrative province, so it’s somewhat surprising that the city’s police arrested Yescoin’s founder.
So far, the community doesn’t have any idea what the criminal charges are about.
Yescoin launched in mid-2024 when the tap-to-earn hype was at its peak. The game has over 4 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) and nearly 3 million subscribers on Telegram.
However, unlike Hamster Kombat and other Telegram mini-games, Yescoin has yet to have its token generation event (TGE). The project cited repeated cyberattacks as the reason for the launch delays but maintains that the token will go live on March 31.
On Yescoin’s initial announcement and other social media posts, users professed skepticism about the alleged arrest. Some fans apparently believe that this incident is an excuse to perpetually delay the launch date or is otherwise somehow fabricated.
In other words, this arrest announcement has riled up the Yescoin community. If further delays happen, it could seriously damage the project’s credibility.
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.
Two altcoins, Maple’s SYRUP and Kamino’s KMNO, spiked over 30% after receiving a Binance listing today. Maple Finance and Kamino have been active in the DeFi space for a long time, but their native tokens are rather recent.
KMNO briefly fell below its pre-listing valuation due to profit-taking, but it remains nearly 85% up over the past month. Meanwhile, SYRUP also received a Coinbase listing last week, further boosting demand.
Binance Listings Remain Influential for New Projects
Today, SYRUP and KMNO generally stick with this program, as the listing announcement led to huge rallies.
Maple Finance (SYRUP) Daily Price Chart. Source: CoinGecko
Maple Finance is a DeFi Institutional Lender that existed for several years before launching its SYRUP token. The project was launched back in 2019, while its native SYRUP token went live last November.
Its DeFi lending platform took off on Solana and Ethereum in 2021, but it’s been comparatively quiet since. Still, recognition has been growing for Maple lately, leading to the Binance listing.
Kamino Finance’s KMNO, the other altcoin to receive a Binance listing, shares a few key similarities with SYRUP. This Solana-based DeFi liquidity protocol also launched years ago, but KMNO first hit the market in April 2024.
Kamino, too, has been gaining notoriety in 2025, and it’s currently considered a major protocol in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.
KMNO technically bucked the Binance listing trend to a certain degree. The token fell just as sharply after its first spike over 20%. For a brief window, its price was lower than its pre-listing valuation, but this bounced back up.
Kamino saw quick corrections after the initial rally, as traders quickly liquidated to take profits, but it remains up 80% in the last month.
In summary, despite KMNO’s minor setback, both of these assets performed within general expectations. Binance’s listings are still very influential.
However, this event did not provide much insight into the exchange’s overall inclinations toward future listings.
Binance listed two DeFi-centric protocols that operate (at least partially) on Solana, with years of operation before a token launch.
Other than that, there aren’t many similarities; both projects have different core functions. Still, it’s useful to have additional data points for Binance listings.
