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Crypto gaming interest drops in April, overall ecosystem healthier

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” says DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas.

Blockchain gaming user activity dipped and funding slowed in April, but the overall ecosystem is healthier and maturing, according to blockchain analytics platform DappRadar.

User activity dropped 10% over April, with blockchain gaming reaching a 2025 low of 4.8 million daily Unique Active Wallets, DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas said in the platform’s April Games Report.

Gaming dominance over the decentralized app industry also fell and is now tied with decentralized finance at 21%.

Gherghelas said it’s clear user attention is shifting away from gaming, but under the surface, new infrastructure went live, major publishers doubled down, and high-quality games edged closer to launch.

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” she said.

“Teams are building, and capital continues to flow into the space. What we might be seeing is a healthier ecosystem — one driven less by speculative play-to-earn mechanics and more by users who have a genuine interest in gameplay, asset ownership and community.”

April’s blockchain gaming investment activity also dropped 69% from March, reaching $21 million.

Weaker projects die off, funds shift to builders
Gherghelas said part of the drop is because investor and user interest is increasingly shifting toward real-world assets and artificial intelligence.

Another factor is the macroeconomic landscape, with ongoing market uncertainty weighing on investor sentiment, making capital harder to secure for startups.

Gherghelas said weaker projects “are falling away,” and funds are flowing into other projects that “are quietly laying the groundwork for the next generation of blockchain games.”

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” she said.

“Teams are building, and capital continues to flow into the space. What we might be seeing is a healthier ecosystem — one driven less by speculative play-to-earn mechanics and more by users who have a genuine interest in gameplay, asset ownership and community.”

April’s blockchain gaming investment activity also dropped 69% from March, reaching $21 million.

Weaker projects die off, funds shift to builders
Gherghelas said part of the drop is because investor and user interest is increasingly shifting toward real-world assets and artificial intelligence.

Another factor is the macroeconomic landscape, with ongoing market uncertainty weighing on investor sentiment, making capital harder to secure for startups.

Gherghelas said weaker projects “are falling away,” and funds are flowing into other projects that “are quietly laying the groundwork for the next generation of blockchain games.”

Mainstream gaming companies are also still experimenting with blockchain-powered games, with Gherghelas pointing to Ubisoft’s partnership with Immutable,

and Sega adding non-fungible tokens and play-to-earn mechanics to its game, KAI: Battle of Three Kingdoms, as prime examples.

“April 2025 wasn’t a record-breaking month for blockchain gaming, and that’s okay. What we’re seeing is a space recalibrating,” she said.

“Speculative hype is cooling down, but the builders haven’t stopped,” she added. ”Games are launching. Ecosystems are expanding. Infrastructure is maturing.”

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Hacken CEO sees ‘no shift’ in crypto security as April hacks hit $357M

April’s crypto losses surged nearly 1,000% from March, driven by a $330 million Bitcoin theft in a social engineering attack.

Despite the $1.4 billion lost in the recent Bybit hack, crypto companies have not changed their approach to cybersecurity, according to Hacken CEO Dyma Budorin.

In an interview with Cointelegraph at the Token2049 event in Dubai, Budorin said the industry continues to rely on limited measures such as bug bounties and penetration tests, rather than implementing comprehensive, layered security strategies:

“Most of the projects think, ‘Okay, we did pentests. That’s enough. Maybe bug bounty. That’s enough.’ It’s not enough.”

He said that crypto companies must go beyond these isolated security measures and adopt more layered approaches similar to those of traditional industries. These include supply-chain security,

operational security and blockchain-specific security assessments.

“In big Web2 companies, this is mandatory,” Budorin added.

Real-time blacklisting, a step forward
While crypto security approaches remained the same, post-hack security approaches shifted slightly. Budorin told Cointelegraph there were some improvements in the crypto space’s post-hack security responses.

“Maybe a little shift from a post-hack approach,” Budorin told Cointelegraph, citing how security firm Chainalysis introduced near real-time blacklisting of stolen funds. He said this small improvement is a step toward progress in crypto security.

“This is great because, previously, Chainalysis was blacklisting within three days when the funds were moving. And this is obviously nothing because hackers had enough time to launder, through exchanges, the stolen money,” Budorin said.

On Feb. 21, the Bybit hack saw $1.4 billion in crypto stolen through a safe wallet vulnerability. This became the largest crypto hack in history. After the hack, the malicious actors laundered 100% of the stolen money in just 10 days.

While faster blacklisting is a step forward, it still doesn’t address the deeper structural risks. “But in terms of the practice, cybersecurity, nothing changed,” Budorin told Cointelegraph.

Crypto losses near $360 million in April
In April 2025, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that the space saw nearly $360 million in digital assets stolen across 18 hacking incidents.

 

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Bitcoin breaks $86K as US tariff ‘Liberation Day’ risks 11% BTC price dip

Bitcoin could return to $76,000 lows, analysis warns as risk assets prepare for US trade tariff volatility, but a daily chart breakout is on the cusp of confirming.

Bitcoin
BTC
$83,615
reached new April highs at the April 2 Wall Street open as markets braced for US “Liberation Day.”

Bitcoin teases breakout in US tariff countdown
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed local highs of $86,444 on Bitstamp, the best performance for BTC/USD since March 28.

Volatility remained in the run-up to US President Donald Trump announcing a sweeping round of reciprocal trade tariffs.

The measures would be unveiled in an address from the White House Rose Garden at 4 pm Eastern Time, with Trump then holding a press conference.

While US stocks traded slightly down after the open, Bitcoin managed to claw back lost ground, acting in a key area of interest filled with long-term trend lines.

As Cointelegraph reported, these include various simple (SMA) and exponential (EMA) moving averages, among them the 200-day SMA — a classic bull market support line currently lost.

In his latest observations, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital made additional reference to the 21-week and 50-week EMAs.

“The consolidation between the two Bull Market EMAs continues. However, the 21-week EMA (green) represents lower prices as it declines,” he wrote in a post on X alongside an illustrative chart.

“This week the green EMA represents $87650. The declining nature of this EMA will make it easier for $BTC to breakout.”

Rekt Capital flagged more bullish news in the making, thanks to BTC/USD attempting to break out of an extended downtrend on daily timeframes.

He confirmed:

“Bitcoin is one Daily Candle Close above & retest of the Downtrend away from breaking out into a new technical uptrend.”

Last month, Bitcoin’s daily relative strength index (RSI) metric broke free from its own downtrend that had been in place since November 2024.

Analysis warns $76,000 BTC price may return
Continuing on the macro picture, however, trading firm QCP Capital was uninspired.

Risk assets, it told Telegram channel subscribers on the day, were likely to “remain under pressure” following the tariffs announcement.

“In crypto, sentiment remains broadly subdued. BTC continues to trade without conviction, while ETH is holding the line at $1,800 support.

Across the board, crypto markets are showing signs of exhaustion with numerous coins down 90% YTD, with some shedding over 30% in the past week,” it summarized.

“Without a material shift in macro or a compelling catalyst, we don’t expect a meaningful reversal. While light positioning could support a grind higher, we’re not chasing any upside moves until the broader macro picture improves.”
Previous tariff moves in Q1 almost unanimously delivered downward BTC price reactions.

Other industry participants were more hopeful, including asset management firm Swissblock, which argued that “no sign of an imminent collapse” occurred on Bitcoin.

“Will $BTC hold as a hedge, or follow TradFi into a pullback?” it queried in an X thread on March 31, describing BTC price action as being “at a crossroads.”

Swissblock saw the potential for a return to $76,000 multimonth lows in the event of a negative reaction — a drop of 11% versus current levels.

 

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Security concerns are slowing the adoption of cryptocurrency payments worldwide.

Bitget Wallet’s latest report found that 37% see security concerns as the biggest obstacle to crypto payment adoption.

Security concerns remain the biggest obstacle to the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency payments, as hacks and phishing scams continue to damage the industry’s legitimacy.

More than 37% of investors identified security risks as the main barrier to using cryptocurrency for payments,

according to a survey of 4,599 users conducted by Bitget Wallet as part of its latest Onchain Report shared with Cointelegraph.

Still, 46% of users said they preferred crypto payments over fiat for their speed and efficiency.

Bitget Wallet has implemented multi-layered protection mechanisms to make security a “top priority” and inspire more confidence in crypto payments, according to Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet:

“This includes MEV protection, which is now enabled by default across major chains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, helping users avoid common risks like front-running and sandwich attacks. “

“We also introduced smart authorization detection via our GetShield engine, which actively scans smart contracts, DApps, and URLs to flag malicious behavior before users sign anything,” he told Cointelegraph.

Bitget Wallet’s operations are backed by a $300 million user protection fund as an additional layer of assurance in case of an “asset loss due to platform-level issues.”

Security concerns have plagued the industry, especially since the emergence of a new type of phishing attack known as address poisoning or wallet poisoning scams, which involve tricking victims into sending their digital assets to fraudulent addresses belonging to scammers.

Victims of address poisoning scams were tricked into willingly sending over $1.2 million worth of funds to scammers in the first three weeks of March.

While Gen X users cite security as their top concern, Gen Z users prioritize usability and cost-efficiency, Kan said.

Africa and Southeast Asia lead in crypto payment adoption
Bitget Wallet’s report found that 52% of African respondents and 51% of Southeast Asian respondents showed interest in crypto payments, driven by high remittance costs and limited banking access.

To help the world’s unbanked regions, Bitget Wallet offers simplified onboarding with non-custodial wallets that don’t require a traditional bank account, Kan said, adding:

“With support for over 130 blockchains and stablecoins, users can easily send and receive value globally, using assets that maintain purchasing power.”

“Local fiat on-ramps and multichain support ensure that users can tap into crypto without needing deep technical knowledge or centralized platforms,” he added.

In Latin America, high transaction costs associated with traditional wire transfers are the main factor driving users to adopt crypto payments, Kan said.

Such remittance fees averaged 7.34% during 2024 if they involved bank account transfers, according to Statista.

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Record $56M CryptoPunk more likely a publicity stunt, says observer

Everyone’s talking about a newly sold $56 million CryptoPunk NFT, however, the transaction isn’t what it appears to be.

A CryptoPunk non-fungible token (NFT) that reportedly sold for a

record $56 million is more likely just an elaborate marketing stunt for a new memecoin, according to an NFT expert.

On Oct. 3, reports on social media suggested that someone bought Punk 1563 for 24,000 Ether
ETH
tickers down
$2,428.74
— worth $56.2 million at current prices — which is also shown on OpenSea data.

The $56.2 million sale is more than double the highest amount ever paid for a CryptoPunk during the end of the NFT mania in February 2022.

However, there’s much more to the sale of Punk 1563 than meets the eye.

Flash loan fake sale
A closer look at the onchain data shows that the supposed “buyer” who purchased Punk 1563 actually took out a 24,000 ETH flash loan

from the automated market maker (AMM) protocol Balancer to buy the punk.

After the sale had been executed the “seller” wallet then sent the 24,000 ETH right back to Balancer — an unusual arrangement for a supposed NFT purchase.

While the NFT changed hands and 24,000 ETH was sent from one contract address to another, in the end, the buyer only had to part with a total of $54 to cover gas and contract execution costs.

In an Oct. 3 post to X, 0xQuit said Punk 1563 will be sold to the highest bidder for the NFT in seven days,

a bet that someone will take interest in either the NFT or the memecoin.

“The dev then gets 10% of the token supply, and 10% of the funds received from the presale and sale of the punk,” said 0xQuit.

“tl;dr 24,000 ETH is a psyop to advertise what is basically a presale where, after 7 days, the punk is sold to the highest bidder with a minimum bid equal to the amount raised in the presale.”

“Also maybe a political statement given the name and the clown makeup,” 0xQuit added.

As far as flash loan NFT sales go, this isn’t even close to being the biggest.

In 2021, an investor took out a $532 million flash loan to purchase CryptoPunk 9998 and quickly repaid the balance to the AMM.

At the time the massive dollar figure generated headlines and turned heads, however, CryptoPunks creator Larva Labs said it wouldn’t

classify the sale as legitimate, a precedent that was quickly adopted by many other large NFT platforms.