Coinbase’s $400M Mistake

Gm friends,

This week was about to go down as a historic win for Coinbase and the crypto industry. But not anymore.

Here’s what’s in today’s issue:

• Chart of the day: Has BTC Dominance peaked?
• Rebecca shares her thoughts on Coinbase’s attack, more Bitcoin treasuries being announced, Atheneum’s trillion dollar security plan, Mastercard launching stable coin payments & eToro successfully debuting on the stock market.
• Today on chain.
• Altcoin Alpha.
• This week’s airdrop by Jesse.

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Chart of the Day

Just a few weeks ago, it looked like Bitcoin’s dominance was going to keep on ripping higher. But certainly, for right now, it looks like BTC dominance peaked at 64.4% on May 8th. Finally, it means Ethereum is back from the dead and is outperforming BTC. ETH dominance has jumped 3% to 9.75%, with ETH/USD up 64% this month compared to BTC which is only up 24%. Altcoin dominance has also jumped 2% to 22.35%.

But don’t get it twisted, this is still a BTC-dominant cycle. There is just too much nation-state, institutional and corporate adoption to be anything else. However, it does bring some relief to altcoins and gives the market hope that another altcoin season is on the horizon.

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News Now

Coinbase Attacked!

On Friday after trading hours, Coinbase joined the S&P 500, making it the first crypto company to do so. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced to the world that “We’re very happy to be included in the S&P 500. It now means that crypto is here to stay. Crypto is going to be a part of everybody’s 401(k).” 

But now this win has been tainted by a shock confession from Brian Armstrong. He took to X on Thursday to share the devastating news that Coinbase had been attacked by a group of hackers.

These hackers recently demanded $20 million in Bitcoin from Coinbase, threatening to leak sensitive customer data. It turns out that staff members from the international support team were bribed in return for the customer data and so it got leaked anyway.

This is the data the hackers stole:

• Name, address, phone no. and email
• Masked social security (last 4 digits)
• Masked bank account numbers
• Government ID images (driver’s license, passport)
• Account data (balance and transaction history)
• Limited corporate data (documents, training material etc)

While no passwords or private keys were accessed, it proves that the more customer data that’s lawfully required for KYC regulations, the more risk both the exchange and customer is taking. It also exposes that crypto companies are only as good as their weakest team member. The staff members involved were fired immediately.

But the damage had already been done. With this data, hackers were able to target customers to trick them into sending over their funds. Coinbase has committed to refunding all customers affected, which is estimated to be less than 1% of its total customers. However, the attack is still estimated to cost up to $400 million to fix.

Brian Armstrong confirmed in the video on X that Coinbase rejects the $20 million ransom and will instead create a $20 million reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the attack. 

Whilst Coinbase needs to step up its security protocols, this isn’t strictly a Coinbase issue, it’s a KYC issue. KYC is a honeypot for hackers and compliance shouldn’t come at the cost of security. 

This is your reminder to keep your crypto in cold storage and do as much as you can to protect your data.

More Bitcoin Treasuries Announced

Eric Trump is continuing to spread the bullish hopium on the crypto conference circuit.

This week he spoke on a panel at Consensus 2025 and explained “Everybody in the world is trying to hoard Bitcoin right now. Everybody. I hear it from sovereign wealth funds. I hear it from the wealthiest families. I hear from the biggest companies.” 

So let’s talk about who’s made the headlines for committing to bitcoin…

UAE

Of course, the UAE is back for more BTC. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala has doubled down on BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. In an SEC filing made on May 15th, the fund has increased its IBIT holdings from 8.2 million shares at the end of 2024 to 8.7 million shares worth $408 million as of March 31st.

Ukraine 

Ukraine is one step closer to launching a bitcoin reserve. Lawmakers are said to be working on a proposal for a national bitcoin reserve with a draft bill in its final stages.

Bahrain

Al Abraaj Restaurants Group is a publicly listed company in Bahrain and has adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy in partnership with 10X Capital. The company has made its first bitcoin buy of 5 BTC and will keep stacking.

UK

Coinsilium Group is a UK company focused on Web3 investing that’s raised £1.25 million to fund its bitcoin treasury.

China

Chinese public e-commerce company DDC Enterprise has announced a bitcoin reserve with the goal to buy at least 5,000 BTC within the next 36 months. The company’s first bitcoin buy was for 100 BTC and plans to buy 500 BTC in the first six months.

Ethereum’s Trillion Dollar Security Plan

Ethereum is doubling down on security by launching its new Trillion Dollar Security (1TS) plan. In a tokenized world, Ethereum knows it needs to up its game to stay relevant. So the goal is to put the network in a position where it can safely handle billions of users holding $1,000 or more and institutions storing over $1 trillion in one smart contract or app. 

The Trillion Dollar Security plan will happen in three phases where Ethereum will focus on the following:

1. Auditing: To identify the ecosystem’s security weaknesses
2. Improvements: To increase its resilience by making enhancements to wallet security, smart contracts and network infrastructure
3. Communication: To roll out security policies by encouraging collaboration between developers, users and stakeholders

Mastercard Launches Stablecoin Payments

These past few weeks has seen stablecoin partnerships after partnerships get announced. Here’s the next one. Mastercard will be bringing stablecoin payments to over 150 million global merchants by teaming up with MoonPay. 

The collaboration will allow companies to issue Mastercard-branded cards that will automatically convert stablecoins into fiat money to pay for goods and services. 

With 120 million wallets holding stablecoins and around 20 million wallets actively transacting stablecoins each month, the goal is to make crypto wallets function as global bank accounts.  

eToro Successfully Debuts On The Stock Market

Crypto and stocks trading platform eToro debuted on the Nasdaq exchange on Wednesday. The stock market IPO offer put the stock at a price of $52 per share. The share price jumped 30% on its debut to $74 before closing at $66, bringing the company value to over $5.5 billion. The stock has since traded sideways.

EToro previously filed to IPO in 2021 through a merger that would have put its value at $10 billion. But the company left it too late in the bull market and ended up putting the dream on pause in the 2022 bear market. Timing really is everything in this industry.

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Today On Chain

While most crypto investors are still locked in the tired debate of Bitcoin vs Ethereum, they’re missing the battle that actually matters now. That’s Solana vs. Ethereum. This chart is proof that Solana has gone from nothing to something, and who knows…eventually it could become everything. 

Data from DefiLlama shows that Solana has gone from 0.3% to 50% of all app revenue. That’s a 166x in growth! It means that for every $100 in crypto app revenue, $50 comes from Solana dApps. Right now, Solana is eating Ethereum alive.

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Altcoin Alpha

• Sui has teamed up with Bitlayer to launch YBTC, a 1:1 bitcoin backed token.
• Avalanche [AVAX] has integrated Libre’s on-chain fund infrastructure and will launch its tokenized Laser Carry Fund. 
• Solana’s [SOL] Phantom wallet has launched its own liquid staking token PSOL, allowing users to stake tokens without locking them up.
• Sonic [S] has partnered with Circle to integrate native USDC, which will bring more liquidity and use cases to the ecosystem.
• Virtuals [VIRTUAL] has introduced a new staking mechanism on its Genesis launchpad. Virtual holders can now stake tokens and earn veVIRTUAL in reward. 

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Weekly Airdrop

GGSOL Airdrop Campaign

GGSOL is throwing its hat into the Solana memecoin ring with an airdrop energy that’s got that early BONK vibe. Tapping into the gamer crowd with “Good Game Solana” branding, GGSOL is leaning hard into the crossover of crypto Twitter and esports shitposting. The whole thing feels like a cross between FaZe Clan lore and Raydium farming. Their airdrop campaign kicked off with simple X engagement and referral mechanics, rewarding early community members with allocation just for being loud and loyal. 

The airdrop format is classic but effective. Link your Telegram and Twitter, then complete the daily tasks. Retweet the pinned post, tag a few friends, fill out a form, and boom, you’re in. They’re using the $GGSOL token as bait and proof of community, funneling traffic into their Telegram and Discord while teasing future utility. Whether GGSOL utility is “actual gamefi mechanics” or just “vibez” and liquidity pools remains to be seen, but the branding is sharp and the rollout is already picking up tons of traction.

Completing the daily tasks will put you in the running to win 1 SOL a day. But, like most meme-based airdrops, this is high-risk, high-meme. There’s zero indication of when (or if) the token will go live or what the tokenomics look like, but GGSOL is doing a good job cultivating a community first before overpromising utility. That’s the right order of operations in this market.

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Legal Disclaimer

Wealth Mastery (Lark Davis, and the Wealth Mastery writing team) are not providing you individually tailored investment advice. Nor is Wealth Mastery registered to provide investment advice, is not a financial adviser, and is not a broker-dealer. The material provided is for educational purposes only. Wealth Mastery is not responsible for any gains or losses that result from your cryptocurrency investments. Investing in cryptocurrency involves a high degree of risk and should be considered only by persons who can afford to sustain a loss of their entire investment. Investors should consult their financial adviser before investing in cryptocurrency.

You can find a full disclosure of all my crypto & venture investments here.