News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News Rapid7, a cybersecurity firm, has disclosed a crypto phishing campaign named Operation Asterix that targets approximately 885,000 phone numbers across multiple countries, redirecting victims to fraudulent wallet service websites. A total of 5,576 phone numbers have been matched with Binance user accounts and placed on the attack queue.The attackers steal seed phrases through fake apps impersonating Ledger, Trezor, and Exodus, while also contacting victims via fraudulent customer support emails and phone calls. Rapid7 also found that among over 316,000 phone numbers in Germany, 43,066 were matched with crypto trading accounts, representing a hit rate of approximately 13.6%.The related attacks also include a bulk phone number verification tool targeting Kraken accounts, and the investigation revealed that AI tools are being widely used in phishing operations. According to data from blockchain security firm Hacken, phishing attacks and social engineering scams caused $306 million in losses in the first quarter of this year, accounting for the majority of the $482 million total losses in the crypto industry. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: At the SALT conference held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, Binance founder CZ stated that Bitcoin's "supercycle" has yet to materialize. The market continues to follow a relatively strict four-year cycle pattern and is currently in a bear market phase. As total market capitalization expands, price volatility is expected to narrow. However, CZ noted that the current industry environment is the most favorable in his 12 years of experience, with the U.S. regulatory framework serving as a model globally. Securities laws and exchange regulatory structures in many countries are referencing the U.S. approach. Hong Kong is also accelerating its legislative efforts to align with U.S. regulatory thinking.Regarding the allocation of investment firm YZi Labs, CZ disclosed that approximately 70% of funds are directed toward core tracks in crypto and blockchain, about 20% toward AI, and the remainder toward biotech and other sectors. The firm uses its own capital and is not constrained by external LP return cycles, placing greater emphasis on the positive impact of projects and the execution capabilities of founding teams rather than purely financial returns.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved World Liberty Financial's application for a national trust bank charter, subject to regulatory and policy requirements. Upon approval, the company may operate under the name World Liberty Trust Company, National Association. World Liberty Financial's application documents show that the bank plans to issue USD-backed stablecoins and custody digital assets related to its USD1 token. U.S. President Donald Trump and his three sons are all affiliated with the company, with Trump family entities holding a 38% stake. Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with nine other senators, introduced the Terminating Presidential Banking Corruption Act following the approval. Elizabeth Warren stated that the OCC's move represents one of the most blatant conflicts of interest in the U.S. financial system. In January 2025, an Abu Dhabi investment company backed by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million. Another UAE entity, MGX, previously used USD1 to invest $2 billion in Binance. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance plans to apply for a license from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with some services for UK residents expected to resume in 2027. The application is related to the upcoming new digital asset regulations in the UK. The FCA stated in June 2021 that Binance Markets Limited, a UK subsidiary of Binance, was not permitted to conduct regulated activities in the UK. In 2023, Binance announced it would halt new user registrations in response to UK financial promotion regulations. A Binance spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation regarding potential license applications. Under the crypto regulatory framework published by the FCA in June, relevant firms can submit applications from September this year until February 28, 2027, with the regulatory regime officially taking effect on October 25, 2027. (Cointelegraph)
Binance plans to apply for a crypto license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, expecting to resume some UK services in 2027.
Odaily News Cryptocurrency exchange Binance provided Russian authorities with customer transaction records and identity information, which were subsequently used in a terror financing case against IT specialist Yuri Belenkiy. Yuri Belenkiy was detained in September 2025 and is currently awaiting trial in Russia. The Russian Investigative Committee accused Yuri Belenkiy of donating more than $700 in cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian military and banned organizations between January 2023 and March 2024. The data obtained by Russian authorities included his transaction history, date of birth, address, phone number, Russian passport, and Bulgarian residence permit. Binance announced its full exit from Russia in September 2023, selling its local business to CommEX. Binance stated that the company is not responsible for formulating or enforcing laws in any jurisdiction, nor does it determine the content of charges or how governments use information in legal proceedings. The company cooperates with legitimate information requests from global law enforcement agencies, subject to applicable laws, privacy, and regulatory requirements. (Cointelegraph)
According to Reuters, Binance provided Russian authorities with a customer's transaction records and identity information, which were subsequently used in a terrorist financing case. Russian investigators stated that IT expert Yuri Belenky donated over $700 via cryptocurrency to fundraising activities related to the Ukrainian military and a banned organization between January 2023 and March 2024.
Odaily News: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will stop processing transactions involving 16 crypto asset service providers, with restrictions taking effect in three batches on August 7, August 13, and August 23. Users will not be allowed to send or receive assets directly or indirectly with the relevant entities after the corresponding dates. The affected platforms include Shelbit, Aban Tether Exchange, A7 Nigeria, A7 Africa, HTX, EXMO, Rapira, Bitpapa, and Exnode, among others. Transactions initiated after the effective dates may be temporarily withheld and subject to compliance review, and affected wallets may face temporary restrictions. The United States has imposed sanctions on Shelbit and Aban Tether, which are linked to an Iranian crypto network; the UK has also imposed sanctions on Russia-related trading platforms and the A7 network. A7 claims it transferred over $90 billion in funds last year. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to Binance's official announcement, due to recent changes in regulatory requirements, Binance will stop processing relevant transactions involving multiple crypto asset service providers in batches. Among them, platforms such as HTX (Huobi Global SA), EXMO Ltd, BitPapa, and Rapira will take effect from August 23, 2026. Previously, Shelbit and Aban Tether Exchange took effect on August 7, and A7 Nigeria, PilotFinance Ltd, and others took effect on August 13. Binance reminds that if users attempt to trade with relevant entities after the above dates, they will face additional compliance reviews, and relevant wallets may be restricted.
According to Bifrost's monitoring, at 19:47 Beijing time on August 8, hackers exploited a vulnerability in the liquidity pool, stealing approximately $720,000 worth of assets from the vDOT single-asset pool and the vASTR/ASTR and vMANTA/MANTA pools. The stolen assets were subsequently deposited into HitBTC and eventually flowed into Binance. Bifrost has contacted Binance's security department to submit a fund freeze request and has filed a report along with a chain of custody evidence package, including transaction tracking, wallet addresses, and timestamps, with law enforcement authorities. Currently, Bifrost has halted all liquidity mining rewards and is conducting a comprehensive security review.
Odaily News: Polymarket will replace single-price snapshots with time-weighted average prices in short-term cryptocurrency markets for settling related contracts. This follows research and trader complaints indicating widespread manipulation in its settlement process. A study on 5-minute Bitcoin contracts found that some large Binance trades occurred in the final seconds before settlement and appeared to drive price movements; within potentially manipulated settlement windows, the majority of losses were borne by retail traders. The new system will use Chainlink Data Streams and short-duration TWAP windows. This mechanism is similar to the safeguards used by competing platform Kalshi, which relies on regulated price indices and moving averages to increase the difficulty and cost of short-term price distortion.
Odaily News - Karia Samaroo, founder and former CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, recently stated that the company's acquisition by US trading platform Robinhood Markets for CAD 250 million was not due to a lack of growth potential, but rather because Canada's market environment has restricted local tech companies from continuing to scale.Samaroo said that WonderFi was founded in 2021. After several years of development, the company consolidated Canada's fragmented crypto market, built a nationwide brand, and survived the QuadrigaCX collapse, the FTX crash, and Canada's strict crypto regulatory environment. By 2023, WonderFi had become a leading crypto platform in the Canadian market.However, he believes that succeeding in Canada was not the company's ultimate goal. WonderFi had originally hoped to grow into a global enterprise, and Robinhood saw WonderFi as a strategic gateway into the Canadian market, which led to the CAD 250 million acquisition. Samaroo pointed out that Canada has long faced structural issues that limit companies' ability to scale, including insufficient venture capital, weak public markets, regulatory fragmentation, and declining attractiveness of entrepreneurial returns.For the crypto industry, the challenges are even more pronounced. Samaroo noted that after the QuadrigaCX incident, Canadian regulators established one of the world's strictest crypto regulatory frameworks. While the original intent was to protect investors, it also increased operational costs for businesses. International trading platforms including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gemini all entered the Canadian market previously and then exited. He believes that Canada's crypto regulations are not only strict but also compounded by fragmented securities regulatory systems, leading to higher financing costs, increased operational complexity, and diminished interest from overseas investors.Samaroo said that WonderFi is not an isolated case—many Canadian tech companies have followed a similar trajectory: growing domestically until hitting market ceilings, then ultimately seeking overseas capital or strategic buyers. Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has also previously criticized Canada for repeatedly "nurturing important companies only to send them abroad." Restricting corporate sales can easily become a political statement, but the real key to solving the problem lies in building a business environment that supports companies in financing, expansion, and competing globally.Robinhood previously announced the acquisition of WonderFi for approximately CAD 250 million. This deal also reflects the accelerating consolidation in the North American crypto industry, as US platforms expand into other markets through M&A. (Fortune)
Odaily News: CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost posted on platform X, stating that the cumulative trading volume of the Trump family-linked stablecoin USD1 on Binance has surpassed $50 billion. Data shows that since its launch over a year ago, USD1 has experienced rapid growth in trading scale. The stablecoin was launched by World Liberty Financial in March 2025, a project co-founded with the participation of the Trump family. USD1 is primarily backed by U.S. dollars and short-term U.S. Treasury assets, and adopts an institutional-oriented compliance framework. Currently, the market cap of USD1 has exceeded $4 billion.
Odaily News: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to explain its policy toward the UAE, following the U.S. granting the UAE greater access to AI chip exports after UAE-linked entities invested in Trump-family-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, it was mentioned that an Abu Dhabi entity invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January; another UAE-affiliated company used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance. The U.S. Department of Commerce previously reclassified the UAE as Country Group A:5, granting it greater access to license-free exports, including advanced chips. The department also stated it would "actively review" license applications involving exports of chips and servers to MGX, the UAE entity that completed the $2 billion Binance investment. Warren stated that the Commerce Department's actions raise significant questions about whether the president's crypto business interests could influence agency operations and national security. In June, several senators, including Warren, had already requested a hearing regarding the $500 million World Liberty Financial deal.
Odaily News: Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Shelbit has processed at least $4 billion in transactions since May 2024, serving as a hub connecting Iranian gambling websites, the Central Bank of Iran, and entities linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At least $676 million has been transferred from Shelbit-related addresses to Binance, including approximately $540 million moved after Dubai regulators fined the unlicensed exchange in January 2025. The report could not independently determine who within the Iranian government controls Shelbit, nor whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps directly operates the broader network.
According to Bitcoin.com, Binance's investigation team, jointly with India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), successfully dismantled the darknet drug trafficking organization "Team Kalki". Reportedly, the gang used cryptocurrencies, the encrypted communication platform Session, the darknet forum Dread, and "dead drop" methods to distribute drugs within India, with supply originating from overseas suppliers; authorities have seized a large quantity of drugs from domestic and international packages. Binance and DSCI assisted law enforcement officers in identifying and freezing crypto assets related to the gang through blockchain analysis and wallet tracking technology. Binance Asia-Pacific Head S.B. Seker stated that the public transparency of blockchain makes illegal transactions easier to track and investigate.
Binance has launched commodity options, which are USDT-settled European-style cash-settled contracts. Traders can trade Gold (XAUUSDT) and Silver (XAGUSDT) options, with 1-day and 1-week expiration structures available for each underlying. Retail users can only go long. The relevant options were listed on July 29 at 18:00. The relevant products are traded on Nest Exchange Limited, regulated by the Abu Dhabi FSRA, and cleared by Nest Clearing and Custody Limited.
Binance will launch Gold and Silver European options, settled in USDT, through Nest Exchange, which is regulated by ADGM. There has been strong demand for Binance's precious metals perpetual futures ahead of this product launch. The new contracts reference a benchmark derived from multiple third-party price sources. Retail investors can buy call and put options, but are not permitted to sell options, with their downside risk limited to the premium paid. Binance stated that the metal options are part of its plan to offer compliant, crypto-native exposure to traditional assets. Binance intends to expand its options product line and may allow retail investors to sell options on a limited basis under stricter regulations.
According to The New York Times, Binance has adjusted its cooperation methods with law enforcement agencies in multiple countries, requiring some investigation requests to be submitted through foreign government channels. European investigators stated that this move has lengthened the investigation process and increased the difficulty of tracking fraud and investigating anti-money laundering cases.
Binance has adopted a policy routing the majority of foreign law enforcement agency requests through the UAE and mutual legal assistance treaty process, resulting in slower access to user data. European investigators and US prosecutors have stated that this change makes it more difficult to track scammers, combat money laundering, and quickly freeze or seize assets. Binance will still directly respond to cases involving child sexual abuse, terrorism, or imminent threats to life. Binance stated that it has not reduced its cooperation with regulatory and law enforcement agencies and defined the new process as enhanced safeguards consistent with standards for regulated institutions. The company's compliance operations continue to face ongoing scrutiny.