Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Binance announces the delisting of 14 tokens; Ripple reveals a $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road; and crypto lawyer James Murphy files a FOIA lawsuit seeking information on an alleged meeting between Satoshi Nakamoto and the US Department of Homeland Security.

Binance to purge 14 tokens following ‘vote to delist’ process

Binance is planning to delist 14 tokens from its platform on April 16 in a move designed to purge low-quality projects that do not adhere to the crypto exchange’s tighter listing requirements. 

The tokens are being delisted following a “comprehensive evaluation of multiple factors,” including the exchange’s first “vote to delist” results, where community members nominated projects with less than stellar metrics, Binance announced on April 8.

Other factors included the team’s commitment to the project, development activity, trading volume and liquidity, network stability, responsiveness to Binance’s due diligence requests and new regulatory requirements. 

The tokens selected for delisting are Badger (BADGER), Balancer (BAL), Beta Finance (BETA), Cream Finance (CREAM), Cortex (CTXF), Aaelf (ELF), Firo (FIRO), Kava Lend (HARD), NULS (NULS), Prosper (PROS), Status (SNT), TROY (TROY), UniLend (UFT) and VIDT DAO (VIDT).

Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion

Blockchain-based payments network Ripple announced it has acquired crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road in one of the largest mergers in the cryptocurrency industry to date.

Ripple is acquiring Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal, the company officially announced on April 8.

The deal will make Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. According to the company’s April 8 announcement, the acquisition is expected to position Ripple as the world’s largest non-bank prime broker, with Hidden Road currently clearing more than $3 trillion across more than 300 institutions.

The acquisition also aims to reinforce the position of Ripple USD (RLUSD), an institution-focused stablecoin launched by Ripple in December 2024.

Ripple has been a customer of Hidden Road for years and “knows their breadth of expertise firsthand,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an X post on April 8.

He also mentioned that Hidden Road’s $3 trillion in annual clearing will tap into Ripple-backed XRP (XRP) and its underlying decentralized, public blockchain, the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

“Instead of waiting for up to 24 hours to settle trades through fiat rails, Hidden Road will be using XRPL for clearing a portion of trades, and most consequentially, using RLUSD as collateral across its prime brokerage services,” Garlinghouse wrote on X.

Lawyer sues US homeland dept to probe supposed Satoshi Nakamoto meeting

A crypto lawyer has sued the US Department of Homeland Security, alleging the agency may know who created Bitcoin — compelling the department to share what it knows. 

The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was filed by James Murphy, who based his accusations on claims made by DHS Special Agent Rana Saoud at a conference in April 2019, where she said a few of her colleagues had previously met with four people involved in creating Bitcoin.

“My FOIA lawsuit simply asks for the notes, email and other documents relating to that alleged interview,” Murphy posted to X after announcing the April 7 suit.  

“IF the interview really happened as the DHS Agent claimed, there should be documentation of the substance of that meeting,” added Murphy, who goes by MetaLawMan on X.

If the DHS resists disclosure, Murphy said he will “pursue the case to conclusion” to solve the mystery.