News linked to both this project and an event.
the U.S. Department of Justice stated in a press release that a 47-year-old resident of Newcastle, Washington, Geoffrey K. Auyeung, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.Geoffrey K. Auyeung assisted overseas scammers in transferring nearly $100 million in investment fraud proceeds through bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges. The scammers deceived victims into investing in the oil and gas industry, luring them to transfer funds into so-called escrow accounts. To facilitate this, Geoffrey K. Auyeung established at least nine entities to receive funds, which were then transferred overseas or exchanged for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and USDC via exchanges like Gemini, Coinbase, and BitStamp. Most of these cryptocurrencies were subsequently sent to Binance accounts controlled by individuals in Nigeria and Russia.Geoffrey K. Auyeung opened at least 81 bank accounts across 24 financial institutions and 19 accounts across 8 cryptocurrency exchanges, receiving a total of $97.1 million in wire transfers and deposits. Through his involvement in the scheme, he earned at least $4 million in commissions and received an additional $400,000 in commissions through accounts under his wife's name between August 2024 and December 2025. Auyeung pleaded guilty in February of this year. He will forfeit approximately $2.3 million seized from bank accounts and his home, an Audi SQ8, and has agreed to forfeit approximately $7.1 million worth of cryptocurrency. (The Block)
Japan's SBI Shinsei Bank will launch a pilot program on June 10, allowing customers to convert a portion of their deposit interest into BTC, ETH, or XRP. The initiative uses "interest exchange" as an entry point to introduce crypto assets into traditional deposit products, enabling users to gain cryptocurrency exposure without direct purchase. Future expansion will depend on customer participation and the regulatory environment. (The Block)
IC3, a research group composed of researchers from multiple top universities, has released a research report stating that claims about crypto technology being able to solve core AI problems are often exaggerated. These exaggerated claims include identifying AI-generated content, eliminating algorithmic bias, and enabling AI Agents to achieve full autonomy.The report points out that AI systems do not become smarter simply by having a crypto wallet, nor are they more resistant to human manipulation or shutdown. The primary function of the wallet is to enhance automation capabilities, allowing AI Agents to conduct on-chain transactions, payments, and call infrastructure without requiring manual approval for each step.The researchers believe that AI Agents will still rely on humans and underlying infrastructure. Traditional payment systems can also support partial automation. Therefore, while blockchain may have some application value in AI payment and trust mechanisms, it is not a universal solution.The report also responds to the recent industry热议 regarding on-chain payments by AI Agents. MetaMask recently launched a non-custodial wallet for AI Agents, and Robinhood also plans to allow users to conduct crypto transactions through AI Agents. (The Block)
Nasdaq-listed company TON Strategy disclosed that it received approximately 3.3 million TON in rewards in May from staking about 227 million Toncoin, valued at roughly $5.6 million at market prices, with an initial annualized staking yield of around 1.48%. The company staked nearly all of its TON holdings and supported a series of network upgrades that have taken effect in the latest governance proposal, including improvements to smart contract execution efficiency, block synchronization, and validation capabilities, aimed at enhancing throughput and scalability. (The Block)
MetaMask has officially launched Agent Wallet, a self-custody wallet designed for AI agents. It enables automated trading, perpetual contracts, and liquidity provision on Ethereum, multiple EVM-compatible chains, and the Hyperliquid network. The product is equipped with multiple security mechanisms, including transaction simulation, spending limits, and address whitelisting. It integrates with Blockaid's risk scanning, requiring user secondary confirmation for high-risk transactions. The platform also introduces a transaction guarantee service, offering up to $10,000 in compensation for compliant and secure transactions. Currently, the product is only being tested by a small group of users via the command line, with plans for a full public release this summer. (The Block)
a joint letter initiated by Stand With Crypto, in collaboration with the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation, and The Digital Chamber, has been submitted to U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging a full floor vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (the "CLARITY Act") as soon as possible.Over 200 crypto enterprises, industry associations, and community organizations, including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, a16z, Circle, and Binance.US, have participated in signing the letter. The joint letter points out that the CLARITY Act would establish a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for the digital asset market, clearly delineate regulatory responsibilities, provide feasible registration pathways, protect software developer innovation, and simultaneously promote the return of more digital asset businesses to the U.S. market.The signatories stated that the bill would help retain innovation, jobs, investment, and market activity within the United States, further solidifying America's leading position in the global digital asset innovation sector.It is understood that the CLARITY Act received bipartisan support and passed committee review in the Senate Banking Committee last month. Senator Cynthia Lummis subsequently stated that the next step for the bill is to enter the full Senate deliberation stage.Additionally, 160 former national security and law enforcement officials have previously signed a letter supporting the bill. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Crypto Advisor Patrick Witt have also publicly called for advancing the legislative process. However, the issue of conflicts of interest between the Trump family and the crypto industry is still regarded as one of the main obstacles to the bill's progress. (The Block)
the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed allowing authorized investment funds (including UCITS schemes and most non-UCITS retail schemes) to allocate up to 10% of their assets to crypto Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs). This proposal is included in the FCA's Consultation Paper 52, with a five-week public and institutional comment period ending on July 13.The FCA stated that this move aims to bridge the regulatory gap between individual retail investors and authorized funds. Since the FCA lifted its four-year retail ban on crypto ETNs in August 2025, individual investors have been able to invest directly in ETNs, but funds had remained subject to an "effective ban." The FCA emphasized that the 10% limit is intentionally set, and exceeding this threshold could force a fund to be reclassified as a restricted mass-market investment product, impacting its retail fund status.Under the proposal, professional and qualified investor schemes are not subject to the cap; long-term asset funds and non-UCITS retail schemes operating as alternative investment funds are excluded. The FCA noted that cryptocurrencies do not align with the investment objectives of these funds.On the industry side, the Investment Association supports the proposal, believing that gaining exposure to crypto assets through regulated listed products is manageable in terms of risk, and that the 10% cap helps manage fund risk. Fund managers will need to ensure that holdings are consistent with the fund's disclosed investment objectives and risk profile, and disclose significant crypto ETN holdings.The FCA emphasized that it is not currently considering allowing authorized funds to hold crypto assets directly for investment purposes, and will decide after evaluating the impact of the upcoming crypto asset regulatory regime and client asset protection rules. (The Block)
According to The Block, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis’ latest report states that as the gray-market peptide industry’s scale exceeds an annualized $100 million, leading suppliers are accelerating adoption of Bitcoin and stablecoins as primary settlement instruments. In Q1 2026, cryptocurrency inflows into this industry reached $32 million—a 159% quarter-on-quarter surge. Due to widespread bans imposed by traditional banks and credit card payment channels on prescription-grade compounds and unregulated substances, numerous Chinese chemical manufacturers have turned to cryptocurrencies for transactions, with high-value orders especially favoring stablecoins to hedge against price volatility risk.
According to The Block, Ethereum liquidity re-staking protocol ether.fi has partnered with onchain treasury management platform Plume to launch a new Real World Asset (RWA) yield vault. ether.fi has exclusively allocated $100 million to this vault. Funding sources include its liquidity provider community—comprising funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals—as well as managed capital from its existing liquidity vaults, which hold approximately $300 million in total value locked (TVL). The vault is natively integrated into the ether.fi application, enabling users to access institutional-grade yield-generating assets—including overcollateralized credit pools, AAA-rated CLOs, and bond ETFs—with underlying asset management totaling over $10 trillion.
According to The Block, Patrick Witt, the White House’s cryptocurrency advisor, characterized the “Clarity for Digital Assets Act” as a “pro-regulation, pro-law-enforcement” bill during a virtual town hall hosted by the Blockchain Association—responding to law enforcement agencies’ concerns that the bill would weaken their ability to combat financial crime. Senator Cynthia Lummis warned that if the bill fails to pass this year, it may not be revisited until 2030. The bill currently faces multiple hurdles, including disputes over its anti-money laundering (AML) provisions, uncertainty regarding whether the “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” (BRCA) would exempt non-custodial developers from money transmission obligations, and unresolved conflicts of interest tied to former President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency investments. Last month, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto voted against the bill, citing concerns that it would impede law enforcement’s ability to trace illicit funds.
White House Chief Crypto Advisor Patrick Witt stated that the U.S. crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act, is a "pro-regulation, pro-enforcement" piece of legislation, pushing back against criticism from some enforcement agencies that it is insufficient to prevent financial crimes.With the midterm elections approaching, the window for Congress to pass the bill is narrowing. Senator Cynthia Lummis warned that if progress cannot be made this year, the bill may not be seriously considered again until after 2030.Currently, the Clarity Act still faces multiple controversies, including arrangements for stablecoin yield, conflicts of interest related to Trump-affiliated crypto businesses, and whether anti-money laundering standards are stringent enough. The latest version also incorporates the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), pushed by DeFi advocates, which aims to clarify that non-custodial developers should not be considered money transmitters.However, some law enforcement groups and lawmakers worry that the BRCA and certain provisions of the bill could weaken the ability to trace illicit funds and recover victim assets. Witt countered that lawmakers have already responded to these concerns ahead of the Senate Banking Committee vote by adding new provisions to strengthen the regulatory and enforcement framework. (The Block)
Web3 security company Immunefi's latest "2026 Ecosystem Vulnerability Audit Report" shows that losses from DeFi protocol hacks have fallen 74% from a peak of $2.62 billion in 2022 to approximately $680.3 million in 2025.The report notes that the median loss per individual attack has also significantly decreased, from $6 million in 2022 to $1.5 million in 2025, reflecting an overall improvement in security standards. Meanwhile, the share of bridge exploits in total DeFi losses has dropped sharply from 73% in 2022 to 3% in 2025, and the proportion of flash loan attacks has fallen from 54% to less than 1%.The proportion of risks at the infrastructure level (such as private key leaks and database attacks) also decreased from 30.7% in 2022 to 10.3% in 2025. Immunefi stated that this reflects continuous optimization in oracle design, reentrancy attack protection, and access control standards, making the DeFi ecosystem "generally becoming safer."However, the report also notes that losses slightly rebounded to $680.3 million in 2025, primarily due to increased complexity in multi-chain systems and a few high-severity incidents. At the same time, the number of independent security incidents continues to rise, indicating the attack surface is still expanding. (The Block)
Odaily news, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated at a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the Treasury Department is steadily advancing the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Meanwhile, Scott Bessent urged lawmakers to support the digital asset regulatory bill "Clarity Act" and expressed hope that it would pass this summer, in order to bring US best practices home and make America the world’s innovation capital.Regarding the strategic Bitcoin reserve, Scott Bessent noted that while the process is complex, it is moving forward, ensuring the adoption of best practices amid the complexities so that it can be sustainable in the future. (The Block)
According to The Block, Payward—the parent company of Kraken—announced that it will open up access to IPO offering-price subscriptions for U.S. publicly traded companies to Kraken users and select partner platform users via the xStocks framework in the coming weeks. Users may submit non-binding subscription indications prior to listing; Payward will aggregate demand and coordinate with underwriting syndicates to allocate tokenized shares at the offering price on the listing day. These stock tokens are fully backed 1:1 by the underlying equities held in custody by regulated entities and are tradable across blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, and TON. Payward stated that it plans to expand into additional markets and onboard more partners to the xStocks Alliance in the future.
xStocks, a framework under Kraken parent company Payward, will launch services allowing users on Kraken and partner platforms to participate in US stock IPOs at the offering price. Users will receive on-chain tokenized shares with a 1:1 correspondence to the underlying stock, which will be held by regulated custodians.Users can submit non-binding subscription intentions via partner platforms weeks before the IPO. Payward aggregates demand, coordinates with the underwriting syndicate for share allocation, and completes pricing, allocation, and token issuance on the listing date. xStocks tokens will be tradable across multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, and TON, and can be integrated with DeFi protocols. (The Block)
Ledger's Donjon security research team successfully bypassed the firmware verification system of the TROPIC01 chip inside the Trezor Safe 7 using laser attacks in a laboratory setting. Chip manufacturer Tropic Square subsequently discovered another attack path affecting the chip's MAC-and-Destroy security mechanism. This vulnerability currently impacts all TROPIC01 chips in production within the field. Trezor stated that the TROPIC01 chip is one of three independent security layers within the Trezor Safe 7, and user funds, wallet backups, and private keys are not stored on it.The chip's hardware encryption storage mechanism completely withstood Ledger's extraction attempts during initial testing. Tropic Square has delayed the release of technical details regarding the vulnerability until the launch of a reinforced silicon version of the TROPIC01 chip later in 2026, with full details expected to be disclosed in the spring of 2027.A firmware mitigation is currently available by disabling the chip's MAINTENANCE mode. Trezor CEO Matej Zak stated that PINs, wallet backups, and user fund keys have never been stored on a single chip. (The Block)
According to The Block, Coinbase Ventures announced its investment in Ethena by purchasing ENA tokens on the public market. The two parties also announced a strategic partnership to jointly expand onchain financial and savings products. According to Guy Young, Ethena’s founder, the integration will go live next week, marking the first time Ethena’s products will be made available to Coinbase’s over 100 million users. Additionally, the collaboration involves Circle’s USDC stablecoin, though specific details of this cooperation have not yet been disclosed.
Coinbase Ventures stated it has invested in Ethena by purchasing ENA tokens on the open market. Following the announcement, ENA rose approximately 6% over the past 24 hours.Ethena said the two parties will collaborate to advance on-chain finance and savings products. Coinbase also mentioned that they will establish closer cooperation, which involves Circle's stablecoin USDC.Ethena founder Guy Young stated that Ethena's products will be integrated with Coinbase's user base of over 100 million for the first time next week, to support its dollar savings products. The market is watching how the two parties will subsequently collaborate around USDC and Ethena's synthetic dollar, USDe. This move also comes as the US "Clarity Act" remains deadlocked in the legislative process. The bill concerns whether platforms like Coinbase can offer users rewards for holding stablecoins, while banking lobbying groups have consistently opposed similar stablecoin yield arrangements.
According to The Block, Securitize announced that HLSCOPE, a tokenized private credit fund operated by Hamilton Lane, has launched on TRON—marking the first asset issued by Securitize and deployed on TRON.
prediction market platform Polymarket has disclosed the completion of its first institutional on-chain block trade. The six-figure USD transaction was executed on the Polygon blockchain by digital asset broker FalconX and AI risk settlement infrastructure startup Anera Labs, targeting contracts related to the Ornn Compute Price Index, which tracks the rental price of NVIDIA H100 GPU chips. Polymarket stated that this is the first institutional on-chain block trade in the prediction market field. Going forward, FalconX will also serve as the exclusive market maker for block trades on the Polymarket platform to support institutional clients' liquidity needs and price discovery. (CNBC)