News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: U.S. digital asset bank Anchorage Digital has reportedly laid off approximately 17% of its workforce. The company was valued at $4.2 billion earlier this year; if its global headcount remains at around 400 as it was in February, this round of layoffs would affect roughly 68 positions. CEO Nathan McCauley informed employees of the layoff arrangements this week.In recent years, Anchorage Digital has expanded its regulated crypto business and entered stablecoin issuance, including participating in Tether's newly launched USD stablecoin USAT. The company also received a $100 million strategic investment from Tether earlier this year. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News — According to monitoring by Drift Foundation, DFX claims and redemption are now live. Users with verified losses from the April 1 incident can claim 1 DFX per 1 USDT lost. Each DFX corresponds to a claim on the Recovery Pool, which currently holds approximately 3.11 million USDT. The funding sources include a portion of Velocity's daily protocol net revenue, up to 127.5 million USDT in matching funds from Tether, up to 20 million USDT from strategic partners, and assets recovered subsequently.DFX can be redeemed for USDT at a redemption amount calculated as "Recovery Pool balance ÷ DFX outstanding supply." Redeemed DFX will be burned, and transactions are irreversible. The claims window will close on January 1, 2028, at 00:00 UTC, at which point unclaimed DFX will be burned.Yesterday, Drift Foundation released an update on fund recovery efforts related to the April 1 security incident, in which approximately $295 million in user assets were stolen. The Foundation has engaged Mandiant, zeroShadow, and SEAL 911 to conduct investigations and trace funds, with Mandiant identifying the attacker as North Korean threat group UNC6862.
Odaily News: The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit on September 28, seeking the forfeiture of 110,300 USDT seized from a Binance account. The case involves phishing text messages impersonating Coinbase, which led to the theft of 33.7 bitcoins, worth approximately $900,000 at the time, from a beneficiary and their family trust held in the same Coinbase account.Investigators said that between June 5 and June 15, 2023, 11.2 of the stolen bitcoins were traced to the Binance account and were quickly converted into Monero. When the FBI requested the account be frozen, it held approximately 758.55 Monero; Binance transferred 110,300 USDT to a government-controlled wallet on August 3, 2026. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News — Gracy Chen, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, said the company is not optimistic about recovering the $388 million in crypto assets lost in last week's security incident. Citing the Bybit hack in 2025 as a reference, she noted that approximately one year after that incident, only about 3.5% of the stolen funds had been frozen, and that this does not equate to a completed recovery.Bitget has set up a bounty program offering 5% rewards for frozen funds and recovered funds respectively. The NEAR Intents team said it has intercepted over $50 million in assets related to the attack and frozen approximately $500,000. Tether and Circle have blacklisted the relevant wallets, freezing $318,000 worth of USDT and USDC.Gracy Chen stated that preliminary investigations indicate the attack may match VPN addresses used by North Korea-linked groups, but Bitget has not yet fully ruled out the possibility of an insider job. Bitget has resumed withdrawals in phases, starting with Bitcoin transactions on Monday and continuing with ETH transactions on Tuesday. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily reports: Aztec Network developer Aztec Labs has relaunched the self-custodial wallet zk.money. The wallet can conceal payment amounts, balances, and recipient information through Aztec Network, and supports transfers via readable names or links.Users can deposit DAI, USDC, or USDT from Ethereum, with USDC and USDT being converted to DAI. Deposit records remain publicly traceable, while subsequent transaction activity remains private.The early Alpha version limits individual deposits, payments, and withdrawals to under $2,500, and screens addresses in accordance with sanctions policy. The software has not yet undergone a full audit and carries security risks. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News — Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced that, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's enforcement actions targeting Iranian sanctions evasion networks, it has assisted in freezing approximately $550 million in USDT assets linked to Iran's central bank and sanctioned networks during 2026. This includes over $344 million frozen in April based on information from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and law enforcement agencies, as well as over $130 million frozen in July.To date, Tether has established partnerships with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 67 countries and regions worldwide, supporting over 2,800 investigations and freezing a cumulative total of more than $4.9 billion in illicit assets (of which over $2.4 billion is related to U.S. law enforcement actions). The company has also directly aligned its wallet freezing mechanism with the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an upcoming report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations states that the vast majority of cryptocurrency wallets sanctioned due to ties with Iran have been used to trade USDT, the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether.
Odaily News: An investigation by US Senate Democrats claims that the stablecoin USDT issued by Tether has become a primary payment method for Iran. The investigation shows that among over 800 sanctioned crypto wallets, approximately 84% primarily or exclusively use USDT. The US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations previously stated that its review of blockchain records, sanctions lists, and asset seizure notices found that the sanctioned wallets were mainly distributed on the Tron and Ethereum networks and had conducted USDT transactions. (WSJ)
Odaily News: Tether has announced a partnership with Shiga to launch self-custodial financial products in Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region based on its open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK), enabling users and institutions to hold and transfer USD₮, Bitcoin, and Tether Gold (XAU₮).Among them, ENTA targets individuals, high-net-worth users, and enterprises, while Pulse targets institutions such as banks and fintech companies, used for building digital asset payment, treasury management, and settlement services. Shiga is currently in the final stage of approval for a digital asset intermediary license in Nigeria.
Odaily News: Franklin Templeton has expanded its off-exchange collateral program to Bybit, allowing users to use their tokenized money market fund shares as collateral for crypto trading. These shares represent approximately $686 million in net assets and can be used to borrow USDT or USDC, while the underlying assets continue to generate yield.Users do not need to transfer the underlying assets to Bybit. The regulated custody platform ByCustody will hold the relevant assets off-exchange, with their value mirrored within Bybit's trading environment. Franklin Templeton has previously offered similar services to Binance and OKX users.
According to the official announcement, Huobi HTX will open JPYC/USDT spot trading and grid trading at 21:00 (UTC+8) on September 28. JPYC deposits will open at 15:00 on September 28, and withdrawals will open at 21:00 on September 29. JPYC is a Japanese yen stablecoin issued by JPYC Inc., regulated under Japan's Payment Services Act, and classified as an electronic payment instrument. It is pegged 1:1 to the Japanese yen, with reserves held in bank deposits and Japanese government bonds. Users can mint or redeem JPYC through the JPYC EX platform after completing KYC, or use it for payments, transfers, DeFi, and other scenarios on blockchains such as Ethereum and Polygon. Its design aims to provide a compliant and transparent digital yen solution.
According to official announcements, Huobi HTX will open spot trading and grid trading for the XDP/USDT pair on September 28 at 22:00 (UTC+8). XDP deposit services will open on September 28 at 18:00, and withdrawal services will open on September 29 at 22:00. Doppler Finance builds infrastructure for tokenized capital markets, covering yields, collateral utilization, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Its tech stack combines regulated custody, comprehensively audited reserves, and rigorously vetted strategies, aiming to achieve security, transparency, and scalability. Doppler Finance aims to help institutions and users access on-chain productive opportunities through infrastructure that meets real-world standards.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen thanked Circle and Tether for their swift action. The Bitget Asset Recovery Bounty Program has now been launched, offering a 5% reward respectively to participants who assist in freezing the attacker's funds and recovering the assets, and calls on exchanges, security researchers, and on-chain investigators to participate.
According to an official announcement, Gate's Stock Token Zone will list MAG7XON, BRAINON, YLD5ON, YLD8ON, BLKHION, BLKDIGON, and BLKGRWON for spot trading and flash swap trading on September 28.Gate's stock tokens are launched through a partnership between Gate and Ondo, adopting a compliant real-world asset tokenization model that supports 24/7 trading, fractional share trading, and on-chain transfers. Users can participate in the relevant markets using USDT, providing a new connection between traditional stock assets and the on-chain trading ecosystem.
Odaily News: Bitget posted on X platform that the vulnerability involved in the September 24 security incident has been identified and fixed. The team is conducting additional verification and security checks on the withdrawal infrastructure, with Mandiant and SlowMist continuing to assist with the investigation. The temporary suspension of withdrawals is a security measure and is unrelated to the availability of user assets; user account balances have not been affected, and the Bitget Protection Fund will cover the financial impact of this platform-wide incident.Bitget plans to resume withdrawals in phases: Bitcoin network withdrawals will resume on September 28 at 8:00 (UTC); ETH withdrawals on the Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism networks will resume on September 29 at 8:00 (UTC); USDT withdrawals on the Ethereum, BSC, Solana, and Tron networks will resume on September 30 at 8:00 (UTC); other tokens, fiat, and P2P withdrawals will resume on October 2 at 8:00 (UTC). Trading and deposit services continue to operate, and users do not need to take any action in advance.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen posted a 12-hour progress report on the security incident on X, including:1. Affected assets include ETH, XRP (largest single-chain loss), BNB, AVAX, USDT, USDC, and other tokens. Affected chains include: Ethereum, XRP Ledger, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, BSC, and Base. All on-chain cold wallets have been confirmed secure and unaffected.2. All foundations of the affected chains have been contacted, and some foundations have confirmed the freezing of the hacker's wallet addresses.3. Based on IP behavioral characteristics and on-chain analysis, the attack methodology is highly consistent with known patterns of North Korean hacker groups. Relevant authorities have been notified, and full cooperation is being provided for a global investigation.4. Bitget Wallet (decentralized wallet) operates completely independently from Bitget exchange infrastructure, and this incident has no impact on it. Bitget Wallet assets are completely safe.5. Transparent disclosure regarding the platform's financial status: In addition to over $464 million in protection funds (all held in publicly verifiable wallet addresses), Bitget's own assets exceed $1 billion. User funds are covered at a 1:1 ratio, and all data can be verified on-chain.6. Regarding withdrawal recovery timing: The goal is to achieve full recovery as soon as possible. Once a specific time window is confirmed, an announcement will be made immediately. No commitment will be made to timelines that cannot be fulfilled.
blockchain security researcher Specter has stated that while investigating the Payy Network attack incident, he discovered that an address associated with a MetaMask Swap router contract was blacklisted by Tether in 2021 and has remained blacklisted ever since. Specter said he had not previously noticed this situation.
Odaily News: Visa has released its "Money Travels 2026" report, based on a survey of 2,192 U.S. adults, showing that if stablecoins were equipped with bank-grade fraud protection and deposit insurance, consumer willingness to use them would rise from 36% to 56%; if offered through existing financial institutions, willingness would also increase to 45%. The survey also found that 56% of respondents had never heard of stablecoins, and 64% of respondents had greater trust in payment providers than in the technology itself. Currently, the total global supply of USD-pegged stablecoins has exceeded $295 billion, with USDT at approximately $183.4 billion and USDC at approximately $76 billion; Visa's annualized stablecoin settlement volume has surpassed $20 billion, representing more than a 15-fold increase from a year ago. (The Block)
According to The Block, Visa released its Money Travels 2026 report. Based on a survey of 2,192 U.S. adults, consumer willingness to use stablecoins would rise from 36% to 56% if they feature bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance; if offered through existing financial institutions, willingness could also reach 45%. The survey also indicates that 56% of respondents had never heard of stablecoins, while 64% trust payment providers more than the technology itself. Currently, the global total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins exceeds $295 billion, comprising approximately $183.4 billion in USDT and around $76 billion in USDC. Visa's annualized stablecoin settlement volume has already surpassed $20 billion, representing an increase of over 15 times compared to a year ago.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov stated that Russia has approximately 20 million cryptocurrency users, with citizens holding cryptocurrencies and related financial products totaling around $44 billion, and daily trading volume of about $595 million.Russia is advancing comprehensive regulation to clarify the rights and responsibilities of service providers, intermediaries, and investors; it plans to pursue criminal liability for illegally organized cryptocurrency trading activities starting July 1, 2027, while ordinary individual transactions are excluded. The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank are studying the operational models and application scenarios of domestic stablecoins; if assets such as USDT and USDC are frozen due to actions by foreign issuers and Russian custodians are not at fault, related losses will in principle be borne by investors.