The Blockchain Bulletin April 22: Bitget Flags Suspicious VOXEL Surge
Hey folks! Welcome to the latest edition of our blockchain bulletin, where we uncover the latest insights that took place in the last 24 hours. In what may be dubbed a “freak hour” on the charts, Bitget found itself in the spotlight over unusual trading activity tied to the VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures contract.
The token, native to the Polygon-powered RPG game Voxie Tactics, surged in volume by over 138% within a 30-minute window on April 20, 2025, between 08:00 and 08:30 UTC. According to Bitget’s announcement, the spike was so severe that it temporarily surpassed Bitcoin in trading volume which is a rare and eyebrow-raising feat for a game-related altcoin. The exchange’s internal risk systems flagged the anomaly, prompting speculation of coordinated activity or market manipulation. While Bitget hasn’t confirmed foul play, traders were quick to question whether centralized platforms need tighter volatility control mechanisms during low-liquidity hours.
Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin dropped a conceptual bombshell on the Ethereum Magicians forum. He proposed replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V, an open-source hardware instruction set that is already widely adopted in tech circles. Buterin explained that this architectural leap could streamline Ethereum’s execution environment and could significantly improve the zero-knowledge proof compatibility.
He argued that developers are already indirectly translating EVM code into RISC-V during zk-proof compilation, so cutting the EVM layer altogether could reduce inefficiencies. According to Buterin, direct adoption of RISC-V could enhance Ethereum’s performance by as much as 50 times in specific operations, while boosting long-term scalability and cost-efficiency. The discussion marks one of the boldest Ethereum reform ideas since The Merge.
While Ethereum debates its future, Bybit remains caught in the shadow of one of the largest crypto thefts in history. Back in February, a hacker exploited the platform’s Ethereum cold wallet, siphoning off more than $1.4 billion in ETH and ERC-20 assets. Two months on, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou updated followers via X, revealing that nearly 68% of the stolen Ethereum is still traceable despite heavy obfuscation attempts. Zhou also clarified that 7.59% of the funds are now “completely dark” on-chain, disappearing from traceable wallets via cross-chain laundering techniques. The remaining assets are actively being monitored, and forensic teams continue to collaborate with global agencies to limit further movement. The security breach remains a wake-up call for centralized exchanges handling large volumes of liquid-staked tokens.
As exchanges wrestle with crypto’s security concerns, traditional finance continues edging into digital assets. Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster announced that the firm is preparing to launch spot Bitcoin trading for clients by April 2026. This decision, disclosed during a recent earnings call, aligns with a broader pivot driven by customer demand and a more favorable regulatory outlook under the Trump administration.
More than 70% of the visits came from new clients who had previously never been clients of Schwab. Wurster said that it clearly reflected interest in appetites for direct access to cryptocurrencies and required the company’s strategic consideration of expanding its services to include digital assets, with Schwab undergoing over 400% increases in traffic to its crypto division website.
While Schwab prepares its launchpad, Michael Saylor and his firm, Strategy, continue to double down on Bitcoin holdings. The company purchased an additional 6,556 BTC at $84,785 per coin, a transaction worth approximately $555.8 million. This move brings their total stash to 538,200 BTC, valued at $36.47 billion.
According to Saylor’s ‘Saylor Tracker’ update, this aggressive accumulation reflects a 12.1% YTD return. However, earlier Q1 filings showed the holdings valued higher—$44.92 billion—highlighting the volatile nature of Bitcoin pricing. Since entering the market in 2020, Saylor has made Bitcoin the firm’s strategic pillar, and recent purchases only reinforce that unwavering thesis.
Amid bullish moves from corporate giants, Bitcoin itself is flexing. As of April 21, 2025, BTC climbed over 3% to hit $87,350 following a week of consolidation. Analysts are eyeing the $88,500 level as a critical resistance threshold; breaching it could reignite attempts to reclaim $90,000.Of late, BTC has oscillated between levels of $76,000 and $87,350, while earlier follies from rising above $90,000 had formed a psychological barrier for bulls. Listening to chart pundits, it seems there might be an all-time high in the quarterly volumes if it crosses the $88,500 mark on some strong volume.
