## The $424,000 Bitcoin Theft

Musician G. Love lost his life savings after downloading a **fake Ledger Live app** from Apple's Mac App Store, according to a post on his X account. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT traced the stolen **5.92 bitcoin** (worth about $424,000) through nine transactions to deposit addresses at KuCoin, an exchange with compliance issues that may hinder fund recovery.

## How the Scam Worked

The theft combined a **counterfeit app** with a critical mistake by the musician. While setting up his hardware wallet on a new computer, G. Love likely entered his **seed phrase** into the lookalike software. On its website, Ledger warns that requests to input seed phrases are a red flag for fraudulent software. Hardware wallets are designed to avoid exposing that phrase, but he assumed Apple's App Store had vetted the program. The funds vanished immediately after he confirmed the phrase, wiping out nearly a decade of retirement savings accumulated in bitcoin.

![Musician G. Love's X post about the theft](https://x.com/glove/status/2043047396322451700)

## The Aftermath and Warnings

"I been in the crypto circus since 2017," said Love in a follow-up post. "Today they caught me off guard. It was my own damn fault for not being more diligent. But let it serve as a warning. There's so many scams."

According to ZachXBT, Apple has seemingly pulled the malicious app from the Mac App Store, but the tech giant has issued no public comment. This isn't the first time counterfeit crypto software has slipped through app store reviews—in 2023, a fake Ledger Live app on Microsoft's store stole nearly **$600,000 in bitcoin** from multiple victims.

## The Risks of Self-Custody

G. Love's case highlights the **personal responsibility** required for true bitcoin self-custody. Holders need a solid grasp of operational security and how transactions settle on the Bitcoin network. This combination has long been seen as a barrier to broader mainstream adoption.

Physical theft is another risk, with criminals using violence in **wrench attacks** to force transfers. Recent examples include an $11 million daylight robbery and a French tax agent accused of selling personal data on crypto users to organized crime groups.

Even sophisticated players aren't immune. North Korean agents allegedly spent six months infiltrating Drift Protocol through social engineering before executing a **$285 million hack**. In another incident, the FBI arrested a man accused of stealing $46 million worth of cryptocurrency from a U.S. government reserve.

## The Shift Toward Centralized Custody

Many investors have sidestepped these risks by choosing **bitcoin ETFs** or corporate proxies. Strategy, the bitcoin treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy, announced the purchase of another $1 billion worth of bitcoin, adding 13,927 bitcoin and bringing its total holdings to 780,897 bitcoin—more than **3.5% of all bitcoin in circulation**.

Bitcoin increasingly looks positioned to serve as a **reserve asset** within a new financial architecture rather than a tool for routine individual transactions. Multiple U.S. states have moved forward with strategic bitcoin reserves, and Iran has started demanding bitcoin for toll payments on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, signaling its value as a neutral medium for cross-border trade.

<iframe src="https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2043236481754611837" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>

The theft apparently combined a counterfeit app with a critical mistake by the musician.

Musician's Life Savings Stolen: How a Fake Crypto Wallet App on Apple's Store Led to a $424K Bitcoin Heist

## Justin Sun Accuses Trump-Affiliated World Liberty Financial of Misconduct

Tron founder and prominent crypto investor **Justin Sun** has publicly accused **World Liberty Financial (WLFI)**, a project linked to former President Donald Trump, of serious misconduct and lack of transparency. This comes after Sun was previously at the center of pay-to-play allegations involving the Trump administration's SEC, fueled by his substantial investments in WLFI and the TRUMP memecoin.

### The Core Allegations: Backdoor Controls and Risky Borrowing

Sun has focused on two critical issues with the WLFI project:

1. **Backdoor blacklisting function**: The WLFI smart contract reportedly contains a function that allows the team to freeze any holder's tokens without notice or explanation.
2. **$75 million treasury loan**: The project's treasury recently borrowed approximately $75 million by pledging about **5 billion WLFI governance tokens** as collateral on its affiliated DeFi platform, Dolomite. This borrowing arrangement has drawn direct comparisons to how **Alameda Research borrowed against FTX's FTT token** before the exchange's collapse.

> "I have always been an ardent supporter of President Trump and his crypto friendly policy. As an early supporter who invested heavily in World Liberty Financial, I did so because I believed in the vision that was presented to the public: a decentralized finance platform that..."
> — H.E. Justin Sun 👨‍🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) April 12, 2026

### Sun Declares Himself the "Largest Victim"

Sun has called himself the **"first and single largest victim"** of World Liberty Financial. In September of last year, the project blacklisted roughly **545 million of his WLFI tokens** (worth about $9 million) after he transferred them amid heavy selling pressure. At the time, Sun posted publicly on X, insisting on his innocence and demanding the tokens be released.

In response, World Liberty Financial stated: "We do not seek to blacklist anyone. We respond when alerted to malicious or high-risk activity that could harm community members."

Sun wrote in his recent statement: "I denounce the ongoing token scandals by the bad actors at WLFI... Every action taken by the WLFI team to extract fees from users, to secretly implant backdoor controls over user assets, to freeze investor funds without disclosure or due process, and to treat the crypto community as a personal ATM — all of these actions are illegitimate and were never authorized by any fair, transparent, or good-faith community governance process."

### World Liberty Financial Fights Back

World Liberty Financial has mocked Sun and disputed his claims on X, posting: "Does anyone still believe @justinsuntron? Justin's favorite move is playing the victim while making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct. Same playbook, different target. WLFI isn't the first. We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See you in court pal."

> "Does anyone still believe @justinsuntron? Justin's favorite move is playing the victim while making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct. Same playbook, different target. WLFI isn't the first. We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See..."
> — WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) April 12, 2026

### Background: SEC Settlement and Political Connections

Notably, previous SEC charges against Sun and his companies were **settled last month**. The long-running case accused him of wash-trading TRX tokens and conducting unregistered securities offerings. Rainberry, one of Sun's entities, paid a **$10 million fine** with no admission of wrongdoing.

Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee previously highlighted the absence of a conviction in a letter to the SEC, tying it to perceptions of **pay-to-play** because Sun had invested at least **$75 million into Trump-linked projects**. Sun has taken a more defiant stance against WLFI since the case was resolved.

### Broader Context: Major Players and Political Ties

The controversy extends beyond Sun:

- **Binance** holds roughly **$2 billion in World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin**, a position expected to generate tens of millions in annual revenue for the Trump-affiliated project. Trump pardoned former Binance CEO **Changpeng Zhao (CZ)** after his short prison stint for anti-money laundering failures.
- A firm tied to **UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan** committed **$500 million to World Liberty Financial** days before Trump's inauguration, taking a 49% stake and sending $187 million to Trump family entities.
- By contrast, developers behind the **Samourai Wallet Bitcoin privacy app** remain in prison for comparable money laundering facilitation charges.

### Impact on Crypto Industry and Bitcoin

The wave of alleged grifting and potential conflicts of interest around the Trump administration's crypto dealings has possibly **dulled the pro-bitcoin tailwind** many in the industry anticipated. According to reports, Trump-linked ventures pulled in roughly **$1.4 billion in 2025**, much of it from memecoins, stablecoins, and tokenization plays rather than Bitcoin itself.

There remains an opportunity for regulatory clarity through the **CLARITY Act**, but policy groups like Coin Center and the Bitcoin Policy Institute have warned that **developer protections must not be removed** before the bill reaches a vote, as it could leave builders exposed to legal risk and potentially push activity offshore.

Justin Sun has accused Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial of misconduct and a general lack of transparency.

Justin Sun vs. Trump-Linked Crypto Project: Inside the $75M Loan Scandal and Blacklisting Controversy

**XRP** is trading inside a massive **9-year ascending triangle** on the monthly chart, with options volume surging **215.78%** to **$3.76 million**, signaling potential for a major price move.

### The 9-Year Ascending Triangle
Since 2017, the pattern has repeated: XRP hits the upper resistance, gets rejected, and retraces to find support at the rising trendline. After the recent August 2025 rejection, analysts like Ali Charts are watching for a retest of the macro support between **$0.75 and $0.80**. This zone is viewed as a key "buy the dip" opportunity before the triangle reaches its apex. Ali Charts noted on X: "When a 9-year consolidation finally breaks, the move is usually historic."

### The Paris Blockchain Week
XRP Ledger is set to take center stage at the **Paris Blockchain Week**. On April 15, Markus Infanger, SVP of RippleX at Ripple, will participate in a fireside chat focusing on blockchain's evolution from an asset class to core market infrastructure. The session will explore how organizations are leveraging blockchain to enhance financial processes, with Infanger highlighting real-life deployments of the XRP Ledger.

### The Options Explosion
Options volume has exploded by **215.78%** to **$3.76 million**, indicating that traders are positioning for a significant move. The Long/Short ratio on Binance stands at **2.59**, with top traders showing a **2.81x long bias**. Open Interest remains substantial at **$2.42 billion**, with XRP holding levels well above its pre-2025 baseline.

### XRP Price Prediction for April 13
XRP is showing minimal movement today, up just **0.1%**. In addition to the 9-year triangle, a large descending triangle has formed since the July 2025 peak, with price now at the apex—the convergence point of the upper descending trendline and horizontal support around **$1.30**. These compression points often resolve in sharp moves, and given the prolonged buildup, the move could be substantial. Immediate resistance is at the BB midline of **$1.3399**, with the upper band at **$1.3871** as the next target. The RSI at **43.20** is neutral-to-bearish but showing early signs of curling upward.

Image: Shutterstock

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is trading inside a giant 9-year ascending triangle on the monthly chart with options volume surging 215.78% to $3.76 million.

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