The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

It's Friday! Bitcoin is consolidating around $104,000 amid institutional flows and "buy-the-dip" sentiment, according to Glassnode — though the seasonal "sell in May" narrative still looms for some.

In today's newsletter, Wall Street analysts brush aside Coinbase's cyberattack and SEC investigation as "little more than noise," corporate bitcoin treasury adoption expands to Brazil as publicly listed firm Méliuz buys 274.5 BTC, the SEC and Ripple's potential resolution suffers a delay, and more.

Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial rebuts a Senate Democrat's probe into its USD1 stablecoin and President Trump's crypto ties.

Let's get started.

Wall Street shrugs off Coinbase data breach and SEC probe as stock snaps back

Coinbase confirmed a cyberattack and SEC investigation on Thursday, but Wall Street analysts were quick to dismiss both as isolated events with little long-term impact.

Attackers tried to extort $20 million from the crypto exchange giant using stolen KYC data affecting around 1% of its users, though no passwords, private keys, or funds were exposed.
Coinbase estimated the breach could cost between $180 million and $400 million in remediation and voluntary reimbursements.
Meanwhile, the SEC probe focuses on whether Coinbase misled investors by inflating its user metrics around the time of its 2021 IPO.
Despite an initial 7% drop following the news, Coinbase stock rebounded over 9% on Friday as analysts reiterated their bullish ratings and called the dip a buying opportunity.
Analysts at Mizuho, Oppenheimer, KeyBanc, Barclays, and Cantor Fitzgerald all held or raised their price targets, citing the company's recent S&P 500 inclusion and resilient fundamentals.
Meanwhile, research and brokerage firm Bernstein predicts Coinbase could see $9 billion in passive inflows amid growing institutional adoption.

Bitcoin corporate accumulation race expands to Brazil

Brazil's Méliuz became the country's first publicly listed bitcoin treasury company after shareholders overwhelmingly approved the fintech firm's new strategy.

"A Bitcoin treasury company's main mission is to accumulate bitcoin in an accretive way for shareholders, using its cash generation and corporate and capital market structures to increase exposure to the asset over time," Méliuz said in a statement.
The firm also announced it had purchased another 274.52 BTC for $28.4 million at an average price of $103,604, bringing its total holdings to 320.2 BTC — worth around $33.3 million at current prices.
Méliuz's stock has surged 116% since its first buy in March, mirroring gains seen by other bitcoin treasury firms like Strategy and Metaplanet.
New York-based DayDayCook also announced its bitcoin strategy on Thursday, starting with 100 BTC and targeting 500 BTC within six months and 5,000 BTC over three years amid a growing trend of publicly traded firms diversifying treasuries with digital assets.

SEC and Ripple's potential resolution hits a setback

U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres denied the SEC and Ripple's joint request for an indicative ruling on their agreement to settle the years-long legal dispute, calling it "procedurally improper" due to pending appeals.

The parties had sought an indicative ruling to lift the August 2024 injunction against Ripple and reduce the imposed penalties from $125 million to $50 million.
Ripple and the SEC hoped the ruling would allow them to request a limited remand from the appeals court to finalize their agreement and withdraw their cross-appeals.
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said that the company and the SEC will revisit this case in court, noting that "nothing in today's order changes Ripple's wins."

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund raises BlackRock Bitcoin ETF exposure

Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds, boosted its BlackRock Bitcoin ETF holdings to 8.7 million shares in Q1, adding 491,439 shares worth $28.8 million, according to a 13F filing with the SEC on Thursday.

Despite the increase, the fund's IBIT position dropped in value to $408.5 million at the end of Q1 from $436.9 million at the end of Q4, reflecting a decline in the ETF's market price over the quarter, though it's now worth about $512 million.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust remains the dominant U.S. spot bitcoin ETF, with over $45.5 billion in net inflows since its January 2024 debut and $65 billion in AUM, according to The Block's Bitcoin ETF Tracker page.
In contrast, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board exited its prior $321 million IBIT position during Q1, according to its latest 13F filing.

Federal prosecutors charge 12 individuals in $263 million crypto scheme

Federal prosecutors charged 12 more people in a $263 million crypto racketeering scheme that targeted high-value victims, including an early bitcoin investor and creditor of the defunct lending firm Genesis who lost over 4,100 BTC.

Several were arrested this week in California, while two others are thought to be living abroad in Dubai, according to the DOJ.

The enterprise began as friendships on online gaming platforms and allegedly evolved into a sophisticated crypto theft ring that laundered stolen funds using mixers, VPNs, and fake identities.

The defendants spent $4 million of the ill-gotten gains at nightclubs and $9 million on exotic cars, among other luxury purchases, per the indictment.

Looking ahead to next week

The latest Eurozone CPI inflation data is due on Monday. UK CPI figures follow on Wednesday. U.S. jobless claims numbers are out on Thursday.
Avalanche, Astar, 1inch, ApeCoin, and Oasis are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.
Mayor Eric Adams' NY Crypto Summit kicks off on Tuesday while the week-long Solana Accelerate event also gets underway in the city.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

Disclaimer: This article was produced with the assistance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5/4 and reviewed and edited by our editorial team.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

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