WLFI may drop 20% as World Liberty Financial faces 'LUNA 2.0' allegations
World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token risks dipping 20% in April, according to a mix of convincing technical and fundamental indicators.
Key takeaways:
WLFI is painting a bear flag setup with a 20% downside potential.
Insider trading activity allegations add to bearish risks.
Bear pennant hints at WLFI dip in April
As of Tuesday, WLFI was consolidating inside a classic bear flag, a continuation pattern that typically forms after a sharp decline.
In technical analysis, a bear flag typically resolves when the price breaks below the lower trendline alongside rising trading volumes and falls by as much as the structure’s maximum height.
WLFI/USDT four-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Applying this classic rule to WLFI’s chart brings its measured downside target to around $0.066 in April, down about 20% from the current price levels.
Conversely, a break below the upper trendline risks invalidating the bear flag setup, with the 20-day (green) and 50-day (red) exponential moving averages (EMAs) at around $0.081 and $0.085 serving as primary upside targets.
Insider activity, token unlock fears add pressure
Beyond technicals, WLFI faces mounting scrutiny that continues to weigh on sentiment.
On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence show wallets linked to the project deposited roughly 3–5 billion WLFI tokens—largely illiquid—as collateral on Dolomite to borrow about $75 million in stablecoins, including USD1 and USDC.
Source: X
Over $40 million was later moved to Coinbase Prime. The position pushed pool utilization to ~93%, restricting withdrawals and drawing criticism for “circular” liquidity extraction.
The structure is risky because it uses thinly traded internal tokens to borrow real liquidity, meaning any sharp WLFI price drop could trap depositors, trigger bad debt, and deepen selling pressure.
Source: X
At the same time, markets are bracing for a proposed unlock of over 16 billion WLFI tied to still-locked public allocations, raising dilution risks.
Adding to the pressure, Tron founder Justin Sun, who reportedly invested ~$75 million and became an adviser, again accused WLFI of embedding a hidden backdoor blacklisting function in the smart contract.
This allegedly allowed the team to unilaterally freeze his wallet/assets without notice or recourse, violating "decentralization" promises.
He called it a trap, denounced "token scandals," claimed governance votes were rigged/non-transparent and demanded unlocks/transparency.
Paxos Labs to use $12M raise toward yield, lending, issuance tools
Paxos Labs has raised $12 million in a strategic funding round led by Blockchain Capital to expand its Amplify platform, a suite of tools that lets companies offer crypto yield, lending and stablecoin issuance through a single integration.
The Amplify suite includes three modules — Earn, Borrow and Mint — allowing platforms to generate yield on digital assets, enable crypto-backed loans and issue branded stablecoins with a single integration designed to unlock additional features over time.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, the platform provides a single SDK with configurable controls, while Paxos Labs manages liquidity, counterparty vetting and backend operations, and shares a portion of generated revenue with integrating partners.
The company said partners including Aleo, Hyperbeat and Toku are already using the platform, with Hyperbeat reporting more than $510,000 in assets under management since launching on April 9. The raise also included participation from Robot Ventures, Maelstrom and Uniswap.
Paxos Labs operates as an incubated unit within Paxos, which has processed more than $180 billion in tokenization volume for institutional clients, according to the company.
The launch targets platforms already offering crypto custody or trading, positioning the tools as a way to turn passive digital asset balances into active, revenue-generating financial products.
Crypto platforms expand yield and lending offerings for user-held assets
Crypto platforms have been expanding beyond custody and trading as they look to generate additional revenue from user-held digital assets.
In March, Kraken integrated a structured products platform from STS Digital, enabling options-based strategies designed to generate fixed returns on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Also last month, Coinbase introduced a tokenized share class of its Bitcoin Yield Fund on its Base network, offering institutional investors onchain access to yield-bearing crypto exposure.
Both crypto exchanges also offer yield on stablecoin deposits, allowing users to earn returns on assets that would otherwise remain idle, including through integrations with onchain lending markets.
Institutional-focused providers are also extending lending against assets held in custody. In February, Anchorage Digital said it would work with Kamino and Solana Company to let institutions borrow against staked Solana (SOL) without moving assets, while in March, Lombard teamed up with Bitwise Asset Management to offer yield and borrowing against Bitcoin using onchain lending infrastructure.
Meanwhile, debate over yield-bearing crypto products has extended into policy discussions centered around the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a proposal that aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets in the US.
The American Bankers Association said Monday that allowing stablecoin yield could accelerate deposit outflows from smaller banks, pushing up funding costs and reducing local lending.
Ether replays 2025 fractal that sparked 250% ETH price rally
Ether (ETH) is currently displaying a technical pattern that follows a 2025 fractal, in which Ether gained 250%. The weekly timeframe chart shows Ether retesting an ascending trend line that has supported the price since 2022.
A bullish cross from the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator also confirmed the price bottom.
Ether’s current price action is following a similar pattern, with the price again bouncing off the same structural support and a confirmed bullish MACD crossover.
“Similar structure. Similar dump. Similar consolidation,” analyst Max Crypto said in an X post on Tuesday, adding:
“What if $ETH repeats the Q2/Q3 2025 rally?”
If history repeats itself, ETH may rally by more than 250% toward $6,300. Further confirmation of a trend reversal now hinges on Ether “crossing the key $2,400 range,” fellow analyst Cryptorand said, adding:
“If it manages to consolidate over, it will trigger the bullish reversal.”
ETH/USD three-day chart. Source: X/Cryptorand
Ether’s apparent demand hits a 90-day high
Ether’s apparent demand turned positive after rising to its highest level since Dec. 31, 2025, as hopes for a deal between the US and Iran boosted investor sentiment.
Capriole Investment’s Ethereum Apparent Demand metric reveals that the demand for Ether has been positive since April 8, rising to a high of 24,111 ETH on April 14.
ETH apparent demand. Source: Capriole Investments.
The surge in Ether’s apparent demand could be attributed to rising US demand, as measured by the Coinbase premium index.
The ETH Coinbase premium index measures the price difference between the ETH/USD pair on Coinbase and Binance’s ETH/USD equivalent.
The chart below shows that the index has flipped positive, rising to 0.055, its highest level since October 2025.
“The index’s rise to 0.055 reflected a significant influx of institutional liquidity, ” CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain said in a Quicktake analysis on Tuesday, adding:
“It typically signals increased demand from institutional investors, particularly in the US market.”
Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs have recorded net inflows for three consecutive days, totaling $160 million.
Spot Ethereum ETF flows chart. Source: SoSoValue
Global Ether exchange-traded products (ETPs) also recorded $196.5 million of inflows last week, reinforcing increased demand for ETH among institutional investors.
Visa deepens blockchain push with Tempo validator node launch
Visa has launched a validator node on the Tempo blockchain, taking a direct role in verifying and processing transactions on a network designed for real-time stablecoin payments.
Visa said the node is operated in-house using its own infrastructure and was developed over six months working with Tempo’s engineering team, positioning the company as an “anchor validator” alongside early participants including Stripe and Zodia Custody.
The role places Visa in the transaction validation layer, where it helps order and confirm payments while supporting network security and performance during the network’s early phase.
Tempo is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for real-time payments and stablecoin-based transactions, with validators responsible for confirming transactions and maintaining the network’s ledger. Validators on the network can earn stablecoin-denominated rewards when selected to package transactions into blocks, according to the announcement.
The move adds to Visa’s existing blockchain activity, including its recently announced role as a validator on the Canton Network, where it works with financial institutions on privacy-focused onchain payment systems.
As stablecoins gain traction in payments, major payment companies are expanding infrastructure that connects traditional finance with blockchain-based settlement.
In October 2024, Stripe finalized a $1.1 billion agreement to acquire stablecoin platform Bridge. The following year, it introduced stablecoin-based accounts for clients in more than 100 countries, allowing businesses to send, receive and hold US-dollar stablecoins similar to traditional bank balances.
Last month, Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion. BVNK enables businesses to send and receive stablecoin payments, convert between fiat and crypto, and operate across more than 130 countries.
Meanwhile, Visa has focused on building and operating its own systems. In July, the company expanded its settlement platform to support tokens such as PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Euro Coin (EURC), as well as networks including Stellar (XLM) and Avalanche (AVAX).
In March, it also expanded its stablecoin card partnership with Bridge to 18 countries, with plans to reach more than 100 markets by year-end.
According to DefiLlama data, stablecoin market capitalization stood at nearly $319 billion at the time of writing, up from about $307.5 billion at the start of the year.
Stablecoin market cap. Source: DefiLlama
Magazine: Singapore is no ‘crypto hub’ — but it is serious about stablecoins: StraitX CEO
Figure and Hastra widen DeFi credit offering with auto loan launch
Figure and Hastra are adding auto loans to their tokenized credit platform, expanding the types of real-world assets available to decentralized finance (DeFi) investors beyond home equity products.
Democratized Prime, a decentralized lending marketplace on Figure Markets, is adding auto finance as its first new asset class as part of its plan to build a marketplace where different types of consumer credit can be issued, traded and funded onchain, according to a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
“We’ve been purposefully building toward this,” Michael Tannenbaum, CEO of Figure, said, adding that the platform has originated over $22 billion in onchain loans.
The move marks an early test of whether tokenized private credit can expand beyond home-equity products into mainstream consumer lending, a shift that could widen DeFi’s access to real-world yield but also import the credit risks of subprime-style loan markets.
Figure launched Hastra in 2025, with its public debut and rollout occurring later that year. The platform, which initially launched on Solana (SOL), was built as an extension of Figure’s lending ecosystem, using its loan origination and credit infrastructure to bring real-world assets (RWAs) onchain.
Hastra expands to EVM chains
At the same time, Hastra is expanding to Ethereum-compatible (EVM) chains, opening access to a larger DeFi ecosystem and bringing its existing credit system, including home equity loan exposure, to new chains.
A Figure spokesperson told Cointelegraph that Hastra will start with Ethereum (ETH) as part of its push into EVM chains. They also confirmed that the auto finance product will first launch on Solana before rolling out on Ethereum around June.
Figure shares are down 12% YTD. Source: Yahoo! Finance
Still, bringing consumer loans onchain does not remove the underlying risks tied to those assets. Non-prime auto loans can carry higher default rates, especially in weaker economic conditions.
There are also questions around regulation, transparency and how these blockchain-based credit products would perform under stress or during volatile market conditions.
Figure gains bullish outlook from Bernstein
Earlier this month, Bernstein analysts said Figure may be undervalued, assigning the blockchain-based lender an “Outperform” rating and a $67 price target, nearly double its recent trading price. The bullish outlook follows growth in its tokenized lending business, with loan originations surpassing $1.2 billion in March and first-quarter volumes reaching $2.9 billion.
Figure went public on Sept. 11, 2025, listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FIGR.
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