|

Cryptocurrency Market News: PlusToken team members arrested in the biggest crypto scam around $6 billion worth

Here is what you need to know on Friday 31, July

BTC/USD is flat but remains bullish awaiting the daily bull flag to be broken. 

ETH/USD had a breakout towards $335,59, a new 2020-high, and remains the leading cryptocurrency.

XRP/USD dropped to $0.234 but recovered quickly and it’s now trading at around $0.247.

The biggest winner today was SpendCoin, a coin that had almost no trading volume but suddenly jumped 1,400% with $28 million in volume and a $21 million market capitalization. No one knows exactly what happened as there was no news to push the coin up. Vechain also had a notable trading day gaining 10%. 

Chart of the day: AMPL/USD daily chart

AMPLUSD

Market

PlusToken, the biggest cryptocurrency exit scam that stole around $6 billion in cryptos is finally finished. 27 core PlusToken members were just arrested by the Chinese police. In fact, around 82 members have been arrested before. Dovey Wan, the founding partner of Primitive Ventures said: 

I sincerely hope this attempt can be a good learning experience for the Chinese community to start an effective DAO [Decentralized Autonomous Organization], a bottom up governance, a real movement from the people that’s for the people.

She was referring to the owner key that was burned to avoid further fraud. 

More scam accusations coming up from a fork of Yearn.Finance (YFI). The copy, called YFII offers a weekly ROI of over 10% but it’s supposed to be fully decentralized. Many people are still studying the code of YFII but so far nothing was found. 

Industry

EQUOS.io, a new derivatives platform will be listed on Nasdaq. The exchange is operated by Diginex, which is based in Hong Kong and announced that EQUOS will be ‘backdoor listed’ on Nasdaq through a combination with 8i Enterprises Acquisition Corp. Once the acquisition is completed, EQUOS will become the first publicly-traded crypto exchange in the U.S. 

Binance just confirmed that crypto debit cards are shipping to Europe soon. A Binance representative stated:

We began shipping a limited quantity of Binance Cards on July 24 and the cards are being shipped to users in European Economic Area

Quote of the day

As the value goes up, heads start to swivel and skeptics begin to soften. Starting a new currency is easy, anyone can do it. The trick is getting people to accept it because it is their use that gives the “money” value.

– Adam B. Levine

Author

Lorenzo Stroe

Lorenzo Stroe

Independent Analyst

Lorenzo is an experienced Technical Analyst and Content Writer who has been working in the cryptocurrency industry since 2012. He also has a passion for trading.

More from Lorenzo Stroe
Share:

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

By subscribing you agree to our Terms and conditions.

Editor's Picks

Crypto market outlook for 2026

Year 2025 was volatile, as crypto often is.  Among positive catalysts were favourable regulatory changes in the U.S., rise of Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT), adoption of AI and tokenization of Real-World-Assets (RWA).

Sberbank issues Russia's first corporate loan backed by Bitcoin

Russia's largest bank Sberbank launched the country's first Bitcoin-backed corporate loan to miner Intelion Data. The pilot deal uses cryptocurrency as collateral through Sberbank's proprietary Rutoken custody solution.

Bitcoin recovers to $87,000 as retail optimism offsets steady ETF outflows

Bitcoin (BTC) trades above $88,000 at press time on Tuesday, following a rejection at $90,000 the previous day. Institutional support remains mixed amid steady outflow from US spot BTC Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Strategy Inc.’s acquisition of 1,229 BTC last week.

Traders split over whether lighter’s LIT clears $3 billion FDV after launch

Lighter’s LIT token has not yet begun open trading, but the market has already drawn a sharp line around its valuation after Tuesday's airdrop.

Orange Juice Newsletter – Smart insights by real people. Every day.

A free newsletter highlighting key market trends to help traders stay a step ahead. Daily insights on the most relevant trading topics, compiled by our experts in an easy-to-read format so you never miss an important move.

Bitcoin: Fed delivers, yet fails to impress BTC traders

Bitcoin (BTC) continues de trade within the recent consolidation phase, hovering around $92,000 at the time of writing on Friday, as investors digest the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) cautious December rate cut and its implications for risk assets.