Crypto News Today (April 20): Bitcoin Drops as War Fears Return, RaveDAO Dumps Another 23M Tokens, HBAR Unlock 4B Tokens

Bitcoin fell 2% to around $74,000 after Iran rejected a second round of peace talks with the US. Altcoins followed as usual – Ethereum and XRP are down 2.8% and 2.2% respectively on the daily charts.

The ceasefire is set to expire in two days, and markets are bracing for more volatility. Let's look at the main crypto news today.

KelpDAO Exploit – DeFi Contagion Spreads

A $20 million project just stress‑tested billions in DeFi. It started with KelpDAO. Now the fallout is everywhere. Aave TVL dropped from $17.9 billion to $9.5 billion – a loss of $8.4 billion in just 48 hours. The rsETH exploit drained $290 million. Bad debt is building at $200 million. Over $10 billion in liquidity has been pulled from various protocols.

Market reaction has been brutal. AAVE token fell 25%. ZRO fell 31%. The scary part: Aave is seeing 100% utilization on some pools, meaning withdrawals are at risk. Liquidations are failing. Multiple protocols have frozen markets.

This is not just a hack. It is contagion across DeFi. Aave’s Umbrella was built for moments like this. Now we find out: does it absorb the shock or amplify it?

Read our weekly XRP price prediction (it's high-quality).

RaveDAO Crash Continues – Another 23 Million Tokens Dumped

The RaveDAO saga is not over. According to Arkham, addresses linked to RaveDAO transferred 10 million RAVE (approximately $10.57 million) and another 12.996 million RAVE – totalling nearly 23 million tokens. The sales triggered a roughly 35% short‑term price drop.

Source: Arkham.com

The token, which traded above $26 just days ago, is now below $2. The team continues to dump while retail bleeds.

Other Important Crypto News Today (April 20)

HBAR Unlock – 4 Billion Tokens Added. One analyst noted on X: "This is unbelievable. $HBAR is down to 8 cents and the Hedera Council decides to do an 8% unlock in Q2 2026. That is 4 billion tokens... Nobody in the ecosystem speaking up?" The image shared shows a steep increase in released supply from 43.3 million to 47.28 million, pushing aggregate percentage from 86.6% to 94.6%. Our take: Diluting holders when HBAR price is already at lows is a questionable move. It adds sell pressure and undermines confidence.

US Stock Futures Slide as War Fears Return. The Kobeissi Letter reported: US stock market futures opened sharply lower as Iran war peace talks stall and Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz. S&P 500 -1.0%, Nasdaq 100 -1.1%, Dow Jones -1.0%. Oil spiked: WTI Crude +8.5%, Brent +8.0%, Natural Gas +1.5%. The US‑Iran ceasefire expires in two days. Markets are bracing for a possible escalation.

Kamino – DeFi Contagion Spreads to Solana. Following the KelpDAO rsETH hack, the chain reaction has spread from EVM networks to Solana. Several USDC markets on Solana’s leading lending protocol Kamino have seen sharp surges in deposit APY and utilization rates.

Source: X/@WuBlockchain

The Prime Market’s USDC Reserve, with a scale of $178 million, has reached 100% utilization with zero available liquidity. Utilization rates in multiple vaults have spiked above 95%, including the Stackhouse USDC Vault and RockawayX RWA USDC.

Overall, this week is off to a bad start. Iran rejected peace talks, sending Bitcoin down 2% and oil up 8%. DeFi contagion is spreading from KelpDAO to Aave to Kamino, with billions in liquidity pulled and markets freezing. RaveDAO keeps dumping. HBAR is unlocking 8 billion tokens at 8 cents.

The outlook for the next few days is grim. Unless peace talks resume or the DeFi contagion is contained, expect more red candles.