Today in crypto, Coinbase Ventures has invested in Indian exchange CoinDCX at a $2.45 billion valuation as the US crypto company expands into India and the Middle East, BitMine’s Tom Lee and BitMEX’s Arthur Hayes have doubled down on their $10,000 Ether prediction for the end of the year, and the US Justice Department is moving to forfeit 127,271 Bitcoin, worth about $14.4 billion, tied to a fraud case.
Coinbase invests in Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX at $2.45 billion valuation
Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of US-based crypto exchange Coinbase, has invested an undisclosed amount in Indian cryptocurrency platform CoinDCX.
According to a Wednesday Coinbase announcement, the placement was made through the exchange’s investment arm, Coinbase Ventures. CoinDCX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta wrote in an X post that the investment took place at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion.
In a separate announcement, CoinDCX claimed to serve more than 20 million customers in India and the United Arab Emirates, following its late 2024 acquisition of local crypto exchange BitOasis.
Coinbase noted in its announcement that, as of July, CoinDCX’s annual revenue stood at about $141 million and its yearly transaction volume across products had reached $165 billion. Assets held under custody by the Indian exchange reportedly stood at $1.2 billion at the time.
Tom Lee, Arthur Hayes double down on $10,000 Ether this year
BitMine chair Tom Lee and BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes are holding strong on their prediction that Ether will hit $10,000 this year, despite the recent crypto crash, and there being less than three months left on the clock.
“For Ethereum, somewhere between [$10,000] and $12,000,” Lee said on the Bankless podcast on Tuesday, when asked where he sees the cryptocurrency’s price going by the end of this year.
Hayes, who also appeared on the same podcast episode, said he is “going to stay consistent” with his $10,000 prediction by the end of the year.
Lee emphasized that a significant rally like this wouldn’t signal excessive market froth, either, as Ether has largely been consolidating within a range since hitting an all-time high of $4,878 in 2021.
“Ethereum’s basically been basing for four years now, just broke out of the range, so to me, it wouldn’t be a blow off top, but rather seeking essentially price discovery at a new level,” Lee said.
US gov’t could add $14 billion to crypto reserves as part of forfeiture case
A US federal court has unsealed a criminal indictment involving a massive fraud scheme that could result in the government increasing its national Bitcoin reserves by $14 billion.
In a Tuesday notice from the US Justice Department, authorities said they had filed a forfeiture complaint against 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $14.4 billion at the time of publication. The Bitcoin was tied to an indictment against Chen Zhi, founder and chair of a Cambodia-based company that was allegedly responsible for orchestrating “pig butchering” crypto investment schemes.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Zhi’s company, the Prince Holding Group, and its affiliates on the same day the indictment was unsealed.
According to the complaint, the US will seek forfeiture upon Zhi’s conviction in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where he faces charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The Justice Department said the Bitcoin was “presently in the custody of the US government” amid the criminal case.
If approved by the court following Zhi’s potential conviction, the Bitcoin forfeiture would represent one of the most significant additions of cryptocurrency to the US strategic reserve since its establishment. US President Donald Trump set up national Bitcoin and crypto reserves via executive order in March.
