Cryptocurrency
SEC Exposes Massive Crypto Market Manipulation Scheme

U.S. authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have charged Gotbit and four other crypto firms with widespread market manipulation.
The charges also roped in several individuals who worked for the offending organizations.
Market Makers Accused of Running Wash Trading Scheme
According to a statement the SEC issued on October 9, Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade MM used bots to inflate trading volumes on centralized exchanges (CEXs) through wash trading.
A parallel statement from the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office included popular meme coin projects Saitama and Robo Inu among those with complaints issued against them.
The SEC claims that the named companies engaged in “pump and dump” schemes, where they misrepresented the value of certain tokens, prompting new investors to buy in only to cash out at inflated prices.
In total, law enforcement officials seized $25 million in cryptocurrency. Furthermore, they deactivated bots responsible for millions of fraudulent transactions across 60 different crypto assets.
Saitama Employees Named in Complaint
Prominent names fingered in the investigations include Russell Armand, Maxwell Hernandez, and Manpreet Kohli. They and fellow Saitama employees Nam Tran and Vy Pham are accused of using Gotbit and ZM Quant to provide market manipulation services, including generating fake trading volumes for assorted cryptocurrencies.
Kohli and Tran face additional charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Armand and Hernandez have already pleaded guilty to the exact charges as those leveled against Kohli and Tran. In addition, California-based Pham also confessed to being involved in unlawful conduct at Saitama and another unnamed crypto company.
Others indicted in the U.S. District Court in Boston include Gotbit’s Aleksei Andriunin, Fedor Kedrov, and Qawi Jalili, as well as Riqui Liu and Baijun Ou of ZM Quant.
The investigation, which began in 2017, uncovered that the suspects used bots to create quadrillions of fake transactions, amounting to billions in artificial trading volume daily. These activities caused unsuspecting retail investors to buy tokens at inflated prices, only to suffer massive losses when Gotbit and its co-accused firms dumped their holdings.
A crucial turning point in the investigation came when the FBI created a cryptocurrency called NexFundAI to gain access to the inner workings of the market-making firms.
NexFundAI, which was still actively trading at the time of this writing, with a market cap of around $237,000, was designed to appear as a legitimate project linking crypto and AI. It seemed to have worked as intended, attracting the market manipulators who believed they could exploit it.
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Cryptocurrency
XRP Prices Hit 7-Week Peak as This Crucial Metric Suggests Further Gains

There’s an evident uptick in the cryptocurrency market, especially when it comes to altcoins, as many have marked notable gains of up to 5% on a 24-hour scale.
Ripple’s native cross-border token is among the examples, as the asset jumped to $2.4 for the first time since late May today.
One of the possible reasons behind the price pumps in the past few hours could be linked to US President Trump’s call for a massive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. After all, riskier assets like crypto should benefit from such a monetary move.
XRP is among the top performers on a daily scale, climbing by nearly 4% and reaching the aforementioned seven-week peak. Moreover, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency has gained over 25% since its monthly bottom at the end of June at $1.9 during the Israel-Iran war.
According to data shared by Santiment, Ripple’s price pump could also be attributed to large investors accumulating substantial portions of its supply. In fact, the number of wallets holding at least a million XRP reached a new all-time high yesterday at 2,743. Today, the number is just shy of that peak, Santiment said.
XRP’s market value has hit a 7-week high, crossing above $2.39 for the first time since May 23rd. What to watch for are the rising number & collective balances of whales holding at least 1M $XRP.
There are currently 2,742 wallets holding at least 1M XRP, one off from… pic.twitter.com/UPPlSWq7TD
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) July 9, 2025
The analytics platform believes this shows growing confidence in XRP’s future. Additionally, smaller (retail) investors could follow suit by seeing this accumulation pattern by the so-called ‘smart money,’ which might result in further gains for Ripple’s token.
The XRP Army has certainly been vocal about its bullish belief in the asset’s price trajectory, and some analysts have indicated that reclaiming the $2.38 resistance could result in a quick 12% surge to $2.60.
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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin Price Rises Above $109K as Trump Calls for Biggest Interest Rate Cut in History

US President Donald Trump continues to state that the nation’s central bank keeps the interest rates too high and urged for another cut.
Unlike the previous similar occasions, though, he was rather radical this time, claiming that the Federal Reserve needs to slash the rates by at least three points.
First, President Trump mentions that higher rates are costing the US more money on interest expense.
At a high level, this is true.
Annual interest expense on US debt has reached $1.2 TRILLION over the last 12 months.
The US is now paying $3.3 BILLION in interest per day. pic.twitter.com/22N9M2PdFX
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 9, 2025
According to the Kobeissi Letter, the US now pays well over $3 billion in interest alone per day. If Trump’s recommendation is followed by the Fed, then, he said, it would save $360 billion per year.
However, the analysts at Kobeissi said the only debt that matters is the public one, which is at around $29 billion. Their analysis claims that if the rates on that entire amount are cut by 300 bps, the “US could save $290B x 3 = $870B/year.”
“However, refinancing all of this debt immediately would be impossible. Realistically, 20% could be refinanced in year 1 to save ~$174B.”
Although these numbers sound promising, there are certain drawbacks to such a potential rate cut, especially when it comes to inflation. It would be three times bigger than the current record seen in March 2020, when the Fed reduced the rates by 100bps.
This would come with a US economy that is already growing at +3.8% YoY.
As a result, we would expect to see a resurgence in CPI inflation, likely exceeding 5%.
And, while it would initially send stocks higher as seen in March 2020, there’s no such thing as “free money.” pic.twitter.com/K5vRmp8Ay8
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 9, 2025
The Kobeissi Letter further warned that mortgage rates would drop from 7% to 4% into a market that “has already seen prices rise +50% since 2020.” The analysts suggested that prices can surge by another 25%.
Nevertheless, such a move should be highly beneficial for riskier assets like bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s price is up by around 1% in the past day, and since Trump’s recommendation, it now stands close to $110,000.
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Cryptocurrency
Threshold Network’s tBTC is Now live on Sui: Ushering in a new era for Bitcoin DeFi

[PRESS RELEASE – Texas, United States, July 9th, 2025]
Key Takeaways:
- Resolving Bitcoin’s Utility Paradox: tBTC on Sui Eliminates the Choice Between Security and Utility.
- Web3 Benefits with Web2 Ease: Experience Bitcoin DeFi with 400ms finality and near-zero fees on Sui’s high-performance network.
- Unprecedented Capital Efficiency: Bitcoin liquidity flows freely across an ecosystem of protocols, maintaining deep liquidity without fragmentation.
- Complete Bitcoin DeFi Suite: Immediate access to trading, lending, and leveraged DeFi strategies through tBTC, backed by 1:1 Real Bitcoin.
tBTC Meets Sui: Liberating Bitcoin from Digital Vaults
Threshold and Sui have announced a major integration to bring tBTC, the leading decentralized Bitcoin asset, to the Sui blockchain, engineered for mass adoption. This collaboration unlocks access to over $500 million in Bitcoin liquidity for Sui’s high-performance DeFi ecosystem, known for its near-zero fees, sub-second finality, and exceptional capital efficiency.
Threshold Network’s tBTC is a decentralized, trust-minimized onchain version of Bitcoin that preserves Bitcoin’s core principles while enabling liquidity across DeFi ecosystems. Now live on Sui, tBTC empowers users to trade, lend, and engage in advanced DeFi strategies within a secure, scalable environment, with transaction finality as fast as 400 milliseconds.
Sui will be the first non-EVM chain to support direct minting on the Threshold app, expanding accessibility and reinforcing its position as a premier destination for Bitcoin liquidity. On Sui, tBTC can participate in DeFi strategies within a high-speed, scalable environment—from trading and lending to more specialized use cases, such as serving as collateral on protocols like Bucket, while preserving its core properties.
“Bitcoin was designed to be used, not locked away,” says Callan “Sap” Sarre, Co-founder and CPO at Threshold Labs. “With tBTC on Sui, we’re combining the security of threshold cryptography with a high-throughput network to create a new standard for Bitcoin utility.
The integration will expand Sui’s growing Bitcoin ecosystem across four Sui-native protocols:
- Bluefin: Trade tBTC across select pairs and unlock additional APR rewards.
- Bucket: Save, spend, and explore Bitcoin-powered DeFi with ease.
- AlphaLend: Access advanced lending pairs and APR% rewards by supplying tBTC.
- AlphaFi: Enable high-leverage BTC DeFi strategies with auto-looping vaults.
Additionally, users can also mint tBTC directly on Sui via the Threshold dApp, providing a secure and easy access point to BTCFi. Key benefits of tBTC on Sui include:
- Sub-Second Finality: Transactions complete in 400 milliseconds.
- Eliminate Fragmentation: Move Bitcoin seamlessly between protocols with near-zero fees.
- True Sovereignty: No reliance on centralized custodians.
- Web3 Power, Web2 UX: Fast, cheap, and user-friendly.
Lastly, Wormhole will serve as the key interoperability provider for tBTC’s expansion to the Sui network. A dedicated bridge enabling users to move tBTC from other networks to Sui will soon be available on the Portal website. This integration will streamline cross-chain activity, making it easier for users to access Bitcoin DeFi across various ecosystems, including Sui, Ethereum, and others.
“We’re excited to support Bitcoin’s growth on Sui through Wormhole’s cross-chain infrastructure,” said Robinson Burkey, Co-Founder of Wormhole. “This integration advances Bitcoin’s interoperability and unlocks new DeFi opportunities while preserving the security and decentralization users expect.”
Enhanced Bitcoin DeFi Experience
Bitcoin DeFi is thriving on Sui, with a significant portion of Sui’s TVL now composed of BTC-backed assets. Since February 2025, a substantial amount of Bitcoin volume has flowed into Sui-native protocols. The integration of tBTC will strengthen this ecosystem by:
- Unlocking seamless Bitcoin liquidity on Sui through direct tBTC minting.
- Supporting leveraged DeFi strategies without compromising decentralization.
- Delivering frictionless DeFi interactions backed by industry-grade infrastructure.
As the world’s most valuable digital asset gains momentum and utility, Bitcoin expands beyond serving as a store of value to power decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Strategic Three-Month Campaign
To support the launch of Threshold’s tBTC on Sui, Threshold and Sui are kicking off a three-month campaign to facilitate long-term adoption. The initiative includes protocol-level developer support and ecosystem-wide activations to ensure the Bitcoin Standard flourishes in modern DeFi applications. This also includes limited-time incentives on select Sui DeFi Protocols, namely Bucket, AlphaLend, and Bluefin.
“BTC is expected to bring a massive amount of Bitcoin liquidity to Sui, creating a bridge that truly matters for institutions and everyday people who love Bitcoin,” said Adeniyi Abiodun, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Mysten Labs, the original contributors to Sui. “This integration opens another door to accessible, sovereign BTCfi participation.
Getting Involved
Bitcoin was never meant to sit idle. With tBTC on Sui, it won’t have to. Users can get involved in this campaign by:
Learn more about Sui and the Threshold Network at sui.io and https://threshold.network, or follow them on X at @SuiFoundation and @TheTNetwork.
About Threshold Network
Threshold Network is the decentralized protocol behind tBTC, a fully non-custodial, 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset secured by a 51-of-100 threshold signer model. tBTC enables native BTC to move across chains like Ethereum, Base, BOB, and Arbitrum without requiring custodians or compromising security. With over $ 500 M in TVL and over $ 3.6 B in bridge volume, Threshold offers the most battle-tested, trust-minimized Bitcoin infrastructure in DeFi. For more information about Threshold Network, users can visit https://threshold.network.
About Sui
Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the ground up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. Its object-centric model, based on the Move programming language, enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain, providing a platform on which creators and developers can build amazing, user-friendly experiences. For more information about Sui, users can visit https://sui.io.
Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed. Nothing in this press release should be considered investment advice.
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