The Berachain Foundation, which supports the proof-of-liquidity layer-1 Blockchain, Berachain, has announced an estimated $632 million airdrop of its native BERA token, to be distributed with the launch of its mainnet on February 6, 2025.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on February 5, 2025, Berachain revealed the launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible layer-1 mainnet, with nearly 80 million BERA tokens being distributed to eligible users.
According to Berachain’s tokenomics documents, 500 million BERA tokens will be issued at Genesis. Of this supply, 15.8 per cent — or 79 million tokens — will be airdropped to eligible users. Although the BERA token has not yet been launched, it is currently trading at approximately $8 per token, based on perpetual futures data on Aevo.
This values the initial airdrop at roughly $632 million at current prices, though pre-launch futures contracts can be highly volatile, and the amount of BERA to be airdropped may also change. Token allocations can be viewed on the Berachain airdrop checker with initial claims beginning on February 6, 2025. However, users who earned an allocation from social engagement and request for Broposal users can stake their claim starting February 10. The largest share of the BERA airdrop will go to holders of Bong Bears non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and affiliated NFT projects, including Bond, Boo, Baby, Band, and Bit Bears.
Public Citizen Advocacy Group Accuses Trump Of ‘Soliciting’ Gifts With Memecoin Posts
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, has called on US government officials to investigate President Donald Trump’s promotion of his memecoin on social media.
In a letter dated February 5, 2025 to John Keller, chief of the US Department of Justice Public Integrity Section, and David Huitema, director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Public Citizen accused Trump of breaking the law by soliciting gifts while serving as US President.
The group requested an investigation into the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin and whether foreign state actors might be purchasing the token.
A 2012 Congressional Research Service report said: “The President is expressly exempt from the broad restrictions on receiving or accepting gifts from prohibited sources or gifts given because of his official position, and thus may accept gifts from the general public, even from ‘prohibited sources,’ or gifts given because of his official position, as long as the President does not ‘solicit or coerce the offering of gifts from such sources, nor accept a gift in return for an official act.”
Just days before his inauguration as on January 20, 2025, Trump had announced the launch of his memecoin, shortly before his wife Melania introduced her own token.
Public Citizen claimed Trump violated federal laws by continuing to post on his social media platform, Truth Social, as President, urging his followers to buy the memecoin.
“It appears Trump is not soliciting money in exchange for an investment or tangible product [...] but soliciting money in exchange for nothing — that is, asking for a gift that will benefit him personally,” Public Citizen said.
CFTC Fines EmpiresX Founders $130M In Crypto Fraud Case
The Brazilian founders of EmpiresX, an unlawful cryptocurrency investment platform, have been ordered to pay over $130 million in penalties and restitution by a US federal court, as announced by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
On February 4, 2025, Judge Cecilia Altonaga of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and other legal actions against EmpiresX founders Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves, along with their associate Joshua Nicholas.
The case, originally filed on June 30, 2022, resulted in a default judgment after the defendants failed to respond to the accusations by the deadline.
According to the court documents, Empires Consulting operated a fraudulent investment scheme, EmpiresX, which falsely promised high returns to investors. Pires and Goncalves were charged with obtaining at least $40 million from victims through false crypto advertisements, reports Cointelegraph.
