Market Updates: Circle Sued Over $280M Drift Exploit, Grinex Halts Trading After $13.7M Hack, Public Miners Dump 32K Bitcoin in Q1

Latest Market Updates: As of 17th April 2026.

A series of major developments has unsettled the crypto sector today, including legal action against Circle Internet Group, a fresh exchange hack, record Bitcoin sales by miners, and the launch of spot crypto trading services by leading brokerage Charles Schwab.

Circle Sued Over Alleged Inaction in $280M Drift Exploit

To begin with, Circle Internet Group faces a class action arising from a major breach involving Drift Protocol. The lawsuit, filed in a Massachusetts federal court by investor Joshua McCollum, represents more than 100 affected participants.

The case centers on an April 1 breach that resulted in approximately $280 million in losses. According to the complaint, attackers transferred roughly $230 million in USDC across blockchains over several hours. These transactions allegedly used Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) to route funds from Solana to Ethereum without interruption.

Specifically, the filing argues that Circle failed to take timely action to halt the transfers. It accuses the company of negligence and facilitating wrongful conversion. The case is being pursued by Mira Gibb, with damages to be determined at trial.

In the aftermath, Drift Protocol is expected to overhaul its settlement system, replacing USDC with USD upon resumption of operations.

Grinex Halts Trading After Multi-Million Dollar Breach

At the same time, security concerns have resurfaced with a major breach at Grinex. The exchange has halted trading after a cyberattack resulted in losses exceeding 1 billion rubles (about $13.7 million).

Grinex, registered in Kyrgyzstan but closely tied to Russia’s crypto ecosystem, reported that 54 wallets were compromised. The company described the attack as highly sophisticated, raising the possibility of involvement by well-resourced or state-linked actors.

Additionally, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic traced roughly $15 million in USDT leaving the platform. The funds were routed through Tron and Ethereum before being converted into other assets, a move likely intended to evade potential freezing actions by Tether.

Following the breach, Grinex said it notified law enforcement and filed a formal complaint. 

The exchange has also drawn comparisons to the sanctioned Garantex platform, with both entities previously accused by U.S. authorities of facilitating sanctions evasion and laundering funds linked to Russian actors.

Public Bitcoin Miners Offload Record 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026

Meanwhile, financial stress is becoming increasingly visible in the mining sector. Data from TheEnergyMag indicates that public Bitcoin miners sold more than 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026, surpassing the total for all of 2025 and even exceeding sell-offs during the 2022 Terra-Luna collapse.

Specifically, the pressure stems largely from deteriorating post-halving economics. Since the 2024 Bitcoin halving, block rewards have been halved, while network difficulty has surged to roughly 10 times its 2021 level. Meanwhile, hash prices have dropped into the low $30/PH/s range, near historic lows.

Consequently, profitability has narrowed sharply, particularly for operators running older hardware or facing elevated energy costs. 

To stay afloat, many firms, including MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark, have ramped up Bitcoin sales. Others, such as Cango, Bitdeer, and Core Scientific, are taking similar measures to manage liquidity and debt obligations.

Charles Schwab Rolls Out Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading

Despite ongoing turbulence, institutional adoption continues to advance. Charles Schwab has announced the phased rollout of Schwab Crypto, a spot trading service targeting retail investors. 

At launch, the platform will support Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, with fees set at approximately 0.75% per transaction. Schwab Premier Bank will provide custody services, while Paxos will handle execution and infrastructure. 

Furthermore, the firm has indicated that additional assets and transfer capabilities are already in the pipeline, signaling a longer-term commitment to expanding its crypto offering.