A Maryland man was sentenced to prison this week for helping IT workers linked to North Korea infiltrate US companies.

This incident fits into a wider pattern in 2025, where insider access and rising crypto theft are becoming key features of North Korea’s cyber strategy. 

US Jobs Opened to North Koreans

The Justice Department announced on Thursday the sentencing of Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong, an American citizen convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors proved that Vong used false credentials to secure remote software development jobs for North Korean nationals at 13 American companies.

According to public documents, Vong allowed a foreign operator to use his logins, devices, and identity documents to perform the work remotely. The man, who operated from China, is believed to be from North Korea.

One job created a particular risk when a Virginia technology firm hired Vong for work on a Federal Aviation Administration contract in 2023. 

Maryland Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud https://t.co/avJWBhOWVi

— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) December 4, 2025

The role required US citizenship and granted him a government-issued personal identity verification card. Vong installed remote-access tools on the company laptop. The move allowed the North Korean man to complete the work from abroad inconspicuously.

The company paid Vong more than $28,000, and he sent part of those earnings to his overseas partners. Court filings show he collected over $970,000 across all companies, with most of the work performed by North Korean-linked operatives. Several firms also subcontracted with him for US government agencies, further expanding the exposure.

Vong was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

The case comes as North Korea intensifies its global cyber operations. 

Record Year for North Korean Hacks

In October, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that North Korea-linked hackers had stolen over $2 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025. This figure represents the highest annual total ever recorded. 

The overall amount attributed to the regime now surpasses $6 billion. These proceeds are widely believed to support nuclear and missile development.

This year’s surge stemmed from several major incidents, including the $1.46 billion Bybit breach, as well as attacks on LND.fi, WOO X, and Seedify. Analysts have also connected more than 30 other hacks to North Korean groups.

Most breaches in 2025 began with social engineering rather than technical flaws. Hackers relied on impersonation, phishing, and fabricated support outreach to gain wallet access. The trend highlights a growing focus on human weaknesses over code vulnerabilities.

Taken together, these trends suggest a coordinated approach, with North Korea combining insider infiltration with advanced cryptocurrency theft to expand both its income and operational footprint.

The post Maryland Man’s Fraud Conviction Highlights North Korea’s Rising Crypto Threat appeared first on BeInCrypto.

With 2026 on the horizon, uncertainty is mounting over whether the crypto market structure bill will sail through early in the year or become mired in a political fight that pushes its passage further down the calendar.

Key unresolved issues continue to slow momentum, including how the bill should address stablecoin yield, conflict-of-interest language, and the treatment of decentralized finance under federal law.

Path to Senate Vote Uncertain

The CLARITY Act cleared the House in July with broad bipartisan support, marking the strongest move yet toward a federal digital asset framework.

The bill now awaits action in the Senate, where the Banking and Agriculture committees are advancing parallel versions of a market-structure framework. The Senate’s split jurisdiction adds complexity, with the Banking Committee overseeing securities, while the Agriculture Committee handles commodities.

Both committees have now published discussion drafts, but a unified package has yet to emerge. Lawmakers still need to reconcile differences before either committee can send a combined bill to the Senate floor.

One major technical dispute involves how the legislation should treat yield-bearing stablecoins.

Banks Push Broader Yield Restrictions

The GENIUS Act, passed earlier this year, bars permitted stablecoin issuers from paying holders any form of interest or yield. 

However, the restriction is narrowly written. It applies only to direct payments from payment-stablecoin issuers and does not explicitly cover reward programs, third-party yield, or other digital asset structures.

The banks demanded the exclusion for yield-bearing stablecoins in the GENIUS Act. Now they're upset that the language they asked for doesn't screw over stablecoin holders hard enough.

Sorry you guys did a bad job negotiating your regulatory moat. Try lobbying better next time! https://t.co/3BbjUxmZlm

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) August 13, 2025

Banking groups argue these gaps could allow workarounds and are urging lawmakers to expand the prohibition in upcoming market structure legislation. They want a broader rule that covers all forms of yield associated with stablecoins. 

Several senators appear open to that approach, giving the issue significant weight in negotiations. Any expansion would influence how stablecoins compete with traditional bank deposits, which remains a central concern for the banking lobby.

Meanwhile, lawmakers remain divided over how the broader framework should address potential conflicts of interest.

Concerns Over Political Influence Intensify

The involvement of US President Donald Trump and his family members in crypto-related projects has prompted renewed scrutiny of potential ethical concerns. 

Some lawmakers, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, argue that new conflict-of-interest language is necessary to ensure that political figures and their relatives are prohibited from engaging in activities that could raise questions about their influence over digital asset policy.

Such measures would help insulate the legislation from perceptions of political interference.

However, the proposed language does not appear in the House-passed CLARITY Act, nor was it included in earlier Senate drafts. Its absence has become a point of debate, and the disagreement is contributing to ongoing hesitation.

Meanwhile, questions remain regarding how the bill should address decentralized finance (DeFi).

DeFi Oversight Remains Unresolved

The market structure bill is designed for centralized intermediaries, including exchanges, brokers, and custodial platforms. Yet the rapid rise of DeFi introduces questions the Senate has not fully resolved.

First Ken Griffin screwed over Constitution DAO

Now he's coming for DeFi, asking the SEC to treat software developers of decentralized protocols like centralized intermediaries

Bet Citadel has been lobbying behind closed doors on this for years

Okay thats all pretty bad, but… pic.twitter.com/ExoNhbhadu

— Hayden Adams 🦄 (@haydenzadams) December 4, 2025

Current drafts primarily focus on custodial activity. However, some traditional financial institutions are advocating for broader definitions that would classify developers, validators, and other non-custodial actors as regulated intermediaries.

Such an approach would significantly expand federal oversight and reshape the legal environment for open-source development.

Until lawmakers define that boundary, the bill is unlikely to advance. The DeFi question remains one of the key factors shaping when the market structure bill may finally move forward in 2026.

The post What Does the Market Structure Bill ‘CLARITY Act’ Need to Pass in 2026? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Michael Saylor is once again at the center of Crypto Twitter’s scrutiny after new regulatory filings revealed that Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) recently spent $27 million on a deposit for a corporate aircraft.

The disclosure has fueled a wave of criticism from users who argue that the purchase reflects misplaced priorities during a period of sharp volatility for both Bitcoin and Strategy’s stock.

Shareholders Question Strategy’s Spending Priorities

According to MicroStrategy’s Form 10Q filed on November 3, the company’s net cash used in investing activities rose sharply year-over-year. 

The filing revealed that for the nine months ending on September 30, Strategy made a $27 million deposit on a new corporate aircraft.

It also disclosed $19.38 billion in Bitcoin purchases funded through convertible notes, stock offerings across its STR series, and ongoing ATM programs.

Despite $MSTR being down 55% in the last year, @saylor needs a new jet.

The 10Q notes two major cash uses of cash in their investing activities

– $15.4B used to purchase BTC

– $27M “deposit on a new corporate jet”

I bet it’s gonna be a nice jet and painted orange. #MSTR pic.twitter.com/wxIpqdPwQu

— Novacula Occami (@OccamiCrypto) December 2, 2025

Although companies often use corporate funds for executive travel, critics argued that the context is especially important for Strategy. 

The firm no longer resembles a traditional product-driven software company. Instead, it functions as a vehicle tied to Bitcoin’s volatile price movements. 

With MSTR down about 30% over the past month, some investors questioned whether a multimillion-dollar aircraft aligns with its stated Bitcoin-first strategy.

Investor Confidence Tested

Crypto Twitter reacted sharply, arguing that shareholder capital should focus on increasing the firm’s Bitcoin position rather than expanding executive privileges. 

Users expressed frustration that the jet deposit came alongside billions in financing tied directly to new equity issuances. Others suggested the timing of the purchase undermined confidence in the company’s alignment with its retail investor base.

Strategy supporters countered that corporate aircraft are common for firms with global operations and high-volume executive travel requirements. They also noted that the $27 million deposit represents a small fraction of the capital committed to Bitcoin accumulation during the same nine-month period. 

Ok you named companies that actually have real product and services, and extremely profitable.

Michael Saylor and Strategy are on the verge of bankruptcy, facing major losses from BTC, and about to be forced to sell.

Maybe use your brain for once instead of relying on AI.

— Jacob King (@JacobKinge) December 3, 2025

Still, the dispute reflects a broader disagreement over how a Bitcoin-focused public company should balance its operational needs with public optics.

As Bitcoin continues to fluctuate, the episode highlighted how closely Saylor’s decisions are tied to market sentiment, especially during periods of heightened volatility. 

The debate also revealed how investor expectations shift when a company positions itself almost entirely around a single macro-sensitive asset. 

The post Michael Saylor Faces Backlash Over Private Jet Purchase Amid MicroStrategy Slide appeared first on BeInCrypto.

A lawsuit against Binance is testing the extent to which crypto platforms can be held liable for real-world harm. Filed by families of victims of the October 2023 attacks against Israel, it arrives amid continued backlash over the recent presidential pardon of founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

More than a new legal headache, the lawsuit is being watched as a potential blueprint for a shift from regulatory fines to high-stakes private liability tied to terrorism financing.

Terror Financing Claims Hit Binance

The case, brought by more than 70 families in a US federal court last week, accuses Binance of knowingly enabling transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and other US-designated terrorist groups.

The plaintiffs, mostly relatives of those killed or injured in the October 7 attacks, argue Binance was not merely exploited. They say the platform structurally enabled terrorist financing at scale.

“For years, Defendants knowingly, willfully, and systematically assisted Hamas… and other terrorist groups to transfer and conceal the equivalent of hundreds of millions of US dollars through the Binance platform in support of their terrorist activities. This assistance directly and materially contributed to the October 7 Attacks and to subsequent terrorist attacks,” read the complaint.

Earlier government investigations have focused on Binance’s anti-money laundering failures. However, this lawsuit reframes the narrative, arguing that CZ’s stewardship of the platform has systemically contributed to real-world violence. 

The lawsuit also arrives at a consequential moment for the company.

Last month, US President Donald Trump granted Binance founder CZ a pardon after Binance participated in a multibillion-dollar deal tied to a crypto venture linked to the Trump family. 

The move cleared CZ’s criminal record and could allow him to take on a more direct role at the company.

Just posted: the pardon that Trump issued to @cz_binance on Tuesday.

It wipes away CZ's conviction for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, which prosecutors said allowed Hamas, Al Qaeda & ISIS to move money using @binance. https://t.co/ptbRCzxhd3 pic.twitter.com/1B9tKnZG6P

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) October 25, 2025

The case also arises two years after Binance’s 2023 settlement with US authorities, which included a $4.3 billion penalty. The company admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and US sanctions laws. CZ pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, and served a four-month prison sentence.

While CZ’s pardon suggested Binance was in the clear, the lawsuit shows neither he nor the company is insulated from civil liability.

Despite Criminal Leniency, Civil Claims Intensify

The families’ lawsuit builds on facts already established by US criminal enforcement, giving the plaintiffs a strong legal foundation.

Because Binance has already admitted to sweeping violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and US sanctions laws, the burden of proof is significantly lower. The families argue Binance embedded these flaws in its core operations, not in isolated compliance failures.

Rather than leaning on broad allegations, the complaint reportedly names specific wallets, laundering intermediaries, and transaction flows tied to designated terrorist groups. 

In its structure, the case closely mirrors the way federal prosecutors assemble complex criminal indictments. The difference is that this same evidentiary framework is now being deployed by private plaintiffs under US anti-terrorism statutes.

Those laws allow victims of terrorism to pursue civil damages against entities accused of providing material support, even indirectly. This legal pathway transforms Binance’s past regulatory violations into the foundation of a potentially massive civil liability case.

For years, crypto enforcement followed a cycle: regulators investigated, companies paid fines, executives stepped aside, and markets moved on. Civil litigation tied directly to terrorism financing breaks that rhythm. 

Unlike regulatory settlements, which cap financial exposure and close legal chapters, terror-related civil cases can involve multiplied damages and years of continuing risk.

A New Enforcement Class?

For the crypto industry, the implications extend far beyond one exchange or one courtroom. If the case survives early dismissal and proceeds to discovery, it could lead to new scrutiny of how centralized platforms monitor, flag, and freeze high-risk activity. 

More significantly, a win for the families could establish that private plaintiffs—not just regulators—now pose one of the most serious financial threats to crypto businesses. 

In that scenario, compliance failures would no longer result in fines alone. They would become long-tail liabilities that follow platforms for years to come.

The post Why the Latest Binance Lawsuit Is More Dangerous Than Any Regulator appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Tokenized gold is gaining momentum as geopolitical uncertainty and rising gold prices weaken trust in fiat-backed assets. Major institutions and sovereign actors are launching or expanding gold-backed tokens. 

This shift suggests tokenized gold may soon move beyond its niche role amd become a credible next-generation, stable, and globally usable digital value.

A Five-Year Flight to Safety

The turbulence of the past few months has reinforced the role of gold as a safe-haven asset. It was only two months ago that the metal’s price hit a record, surpassing $4,000 per ounce. 

This isn’t only a recent phenomenon. Between 2020 and 2025, the price of gold more than doubled, reflecting a wider flight to safety as global markets confronted a pandemic, inflation, wars, sanctions, and persistent geopolitical tensions. 

At the same time, advances in blockchain technology have transformed the use of gold. Tokenization, instant settlement, and 24/7 global liquidity now make a traditionally static asset far more flexible in digital form.

Several developments show how quickly the trend is gaining traction across both crypto and traditional finance.

Institutional Gold Tokens on the Rise

Last month, Swiss metals giant MKS PAMP, one of the world’s largest gold refiners and a major supplier of precious metals to global markets, relaunched DGLD, a gold-backed token designed for institutional investors.

In the crypto space, Tether Gold (XAUt) continues to see steady growth. Pax Gold (PAXG), launched by New York–regulated blockchain firm Paxos, is also expanding. Together, their market caps now exceed $3 billion, making them the most widely used gold-backed digital assets available to the public.

What if "Digital Gold" is really tokenized gold?

$1b to $3b YTD with trillions to go. pic.twitter.com/cJQF7RYkDA

— Emperor Osmo 🐂 🎯 (@Flowslikeosmo) November 28, 2025

Traditional banking players are also testing the waters. HSBC, one of the largest multinational banks and a major custodian of physical gold through its London vaults, is experimenting with its own gold token for clients.

While these digital gold products are still relatively small compared to the market value of gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), their expansion signals a growing confidence that blockchain-based gold is becoming a credible financial instrument.

In fact, the movement is not even limited to the private sector. 

In November, Kyrgyzstan launched USDKG, the first gold-backed stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Backed by the country’s national gold reserves, it offers a sanction-resistant tool for cross-border payments and trade. Kyrgyzstan’s approach could also encourage other, larger nations to follow suit. 

Still, some challenges remain. 

Regulators Stay Wary

Gold-backed tokens still have no clear industry standard, which makes it harder for users to compare their reliability. 

Transparency also varies. Some issuers publish regular third-party audits, while others offer limited details about their vaults or redemption processes. Regulations differ widely across countries, adding another layer of uncertainty for consumers and businesses. 

These gaps explain why many governments remain cautious. 

Officials worry that freely circulating gold-backed assets could weaken confidence in national currencies and complicate monetary policy. They also fear that digital gold could facilitate the movement of money outside traditional banking controls.

Even so, momentum is unmistakable. 

If clearer rules and rising geopolitical pressures push the industry forward, tokenized gold could move from the margins to become a core pillar of stable, globally usable digital money.

The post Could Tokenized Gold Become the Next Standard in Stablecoins? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Two major economies are tightening control over digital currencies just as the US pushes to cement its leadership in the stablecoin sector. Israel is accelerating its digital shekel plans while China continues to expand the digital yuan. 

These moves signal a broader global shift toward sovereign digital money that could challenge the reach and influence of US dollar–based stablecoins.

Israel Tightens Rules, Advances Digital Shekel

Stablecoins have become a central pillar of the digital asset market, moving well beyond their early role as a trading convenience. 

The sector now processes more than $2 trillion in monthly volume and holds a market cap above $310 billion, almost all of it in dollars. That growth has prompted private companies to assume a leading role in operating key components of global payment infrastructure.

As their influence expands, governments are stepping back in. Many are introducing new rules aimed at limiting the reach of USD-linked tokens.

During a recent conference in Tel Aviv, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron stated that the country is preparing to implement much stricter oversight of stablecoins, citing growing concerns over the sector’s concentration.

With most activity dominated by Tether and Circle, he warned that any issue with their reserves or backing could spill into the wider financial system. 

Yaron also noted that stablecoins are now so embedded in global money flows that they can no longer be treated as a niche market, adding that the sector’s scale already rivals that of a mid-tier international bank.

Alongside these warnings, Israel is also accelerating its digital shekel initiative, its proposed central bank digital currency. 

The Bank of Israel recently published a detailed design document outlining user journeys, technical architecture, and key policy considerations. Officials say the project aims to strengthen the country’s payment infrastructure and reduce reliance on private digital assets.

As Israel builds its regulatory and technological framework, China is taking a far more forceful path.

Beijing Shuts Out Stablecoin Influence

China’s central bank has doubled down on its broad crypto ban, working with different government bodies to target stablecoin activity and close remaining loopholes.  Officials say digital assets fuel money laundering and capital flight, and they stress that these tokens carry no legal currency status.

The crackdown is also unfolding alongside the rapid growth of the digital yuan. 

According to Ledger Insights, the People’s Bank of China recently reported that e-CNY transaction volumes nearly doubled in the past 14 months, reaching $2 trillion by September. 

Pilot programs are now operational across major cities, public-sector payment systems, and select commercial routes. This push is embedding the state-issued currency deeper into daily financial activity.

🇨🇳 People's Bank of China announces full integration of its digital cross-border system with ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern countries

This will significantly increase global trade through digital yuan. Many experts believe that figures of up to 38% will be achieved,… pic.twitter.com/bagM1owks8

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) November 14, 2025

By walling off stablecoins and accelerating the digital yuan, China aims to cut dependence on foreign currency rails, especially those tied to the US dollar. The strategy also helps preserve tight control over data, capital flows, and payment infrastructure.

Together with Israel’s more measured but still sovereignty-driven approach, China’s escalation highlights a clear global shift. 

Major economies are no longer willing to let USD stablecoins define the future of payments. Many are now building or enforcing their own digital systems and challenging the US’s ambitions for stablecoin dominance.

The post Are Israel and China Threatening the US Stablecoin Plan? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Texas has become the first US state to purchase Bitcoin for its treasury, making a $10 million acquisition as part of a broader strategic initiative. The move comes during a market pullback that some view as a favorable entry point. 

This decision positions Texas as an early leader in state-level digital asset adoption and may influence how other states approach cryptocurrency in the future.

Texas Starts With ETF Access

State officials said Texas executed the transaction through BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF as a regulated and practical entry point. The purchase was presented as a step toward integrating Bitcoin into long-term treasury planning and improving diversification.

Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher later confirmed the move, noting that treasury teams had monitored market conditions closely and executed the purchase on November 20, when Bitcoin briefly dipped to $87,000. Officials added that direct self-custody remains the goal, but the ETF offers a compliant solution while the state builds its custody framework.

TEXAS BOUGHT THE DIP!
Texas becomes the FIRST state to purchase Bitcoin with a $10M investment on Nov. 20th at an approximately $87k basis!
Congratulations to Comptroller @KHancock4TX and the dedicated investments team at Texas Treasury who have been watching this market… pic.twitter.com/wsMqI9HrPD

— Lee ₿ratcher (@lee_bratcher) November 25, 2025

The acquisition marks the beginning of a broader reserve strategy focused on developing infrastructure, oversight, and digital asset controls. This initial allocation will help test workflows, risk management, and governance processes before any future expansion.

More broadly, Texas’s move comes as institutional interest in Bitcoin grows, supported by strong ETF inflows and wider participation from major financial firms.

A Symbolic First Step

While $10 million is a small share of state reserves, the symbolic impact is significant. It marks the first instance of a US state treating Bitcoin as a treasury-level asset.

Analysts say this early government involvement could shape how other states approach digital asset exposure. It may spark debates on reserve diversification, tech competitiveness, and long-term fiscal planning.

If more states follow, Texas could become the catalyst for a new phase of public-sector engagement with cryptocurrency.

The post Texas Becomes the First State to Buy Bitcoin — What Happens Next? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Polymarket received formal approval from the CFTC to operate in the US with full regulatory oversight, allowing the platform to work with brokerages and offer intermediated access to American users. 

The approval brings an on-chain prediction market into the US regulatory system for the first time, opening the door to larger institutions and deeper liquidity.

A New Era After CFTC Approval

Polymarket announced today that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a revised designation order. The decision enables the platform to offer intermediated access nationwide. 

The prediction market can now work with regulated intermediaries and onboard US customers in full compliance. It can also operate a marketplace that meets the standards of federally supervised exchanges. 

To reach this stage, the company enhanced its surveillance tools, oversight policies, clearing procedures, and reporting systems to support the transition. These upgrades move Polymarket from a crypto-native platform into a fully regulated exchange operating under CFTC rules.

This approval also marks a broader shift in the regulatory landscape. 

Pretty big news for Polymarket: The CFTC amended Polymarket's "order of designation," allowing it to work with futures commission merchants to list contracts. Before, Polymarket could only offer direct access.

Most proximately, it would pave the way to go live with PrizePicks. pic.twitter.com/BQ8h6vJes2

— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) November 25, 2025

For years, prediction markets operated in a legal gray area. US regulators often took a cautious or even hostile stance toward event-based trading. The CFTC’s decision signals a more open approach. 

The move also unlocks institutional participation. Brokers, futures commission merchants (FCMs), trading firms, and liquidity providers can now access Polymarket’s markets legally. This greatly expands the platform’s potential scale and liquidity. 

The ruling also positions prediction markets as a legitimate financial instrument. They can serve as tools for forecasting elections, geopolitics, policy changes, sports outcomes, and macro events. They may even emerge as a new asset class.

The news comes at a moment when Polymarket is performing strongly and securing a clear position in an increasingly competitive industry.

Polymarket’s Momentum Builds

Polymarket’s recent growth has been driven by rising user activity, strong institutional backing, and speculation about what the prediction market will do next.

Last week, BeInCrypto reported that the prediction market is now seeking new capital at a $12 billion valuation, representing a sharp increase from its previous funding round. The move has also fueled speculation about a potential initial public offering (IPO), with many drawing parallels to Kraken’s recent fundraising efforts and confidential filing.

Institutional support has played a significant role in Polymarket’s rise. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) invested $2 billion in the platform, giving prediction markets serious credibility. Meanwhile, user engagement has climbed just as quickly. 

Polymarket now has more than 1.3 million traders and over $18 billion in total volume. Daily active users jumped from 20,000 to almost 58,000. Much of the excitement stems from the confirmation of the POLY token and an airdrop that could rank among the largest in cryptocurrency history. 

With regulatory clarity, institutional backing, and rapid user growth converging at once, Polymarket now appears poised to enter its most ambitious phase yet.

The post Polymarket Wins CFTC Greenlight for Intermediated US Market Access appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Since taking office, US President Donald Trump and his family have dived headfirst into a wave of crypto-focused business ventures, briefly seeing their wealth surge on the back of these deals. But that momentum has faded. 

Today, both the Trump family’s gains —and those of their most devoted supporters— have been wiped out as market volatility intensifies.

Family Crypto Empire Faces Reversal

Trump’s crypto ventures have become recognizable fixtures across the industry. 

They began with the launch of a namesake meme coin, quickly followed by a nearly identical token from First Lady Melania Trump. Then came World Liberty Financial. Eric Trump also stepped in through the Bitcoin mining company Hut 8.

At this point, there’s virtually no corner of the crypto industry the presidential family hasn’t tapped into.

At their peak, the profits from these ventures were striking. Estimates differ, but an August investigation by watchdog group Accountable.US found that roughly 73% of Trump’s wealth was tied to crypto-related deals.

Everyone's worried about how inflationary Trump's new economic plan might be…

But it may not matter much to DJT.

His empire isn't built on golf courses and licensing deals anymore — it's being rebuilt on crypto.

Over the past year, the Trump family has accumulated:
– $2B+ in… pic.twitter.com/GWeBs4K2lW

— Simon (@simononchain) July 2, 2025

That figure represents a sharp rise from April, when the NGO State Democracy Defenders Fund estimated that 37% of his wealth came from crypto.

That picture, however, has changed dramatically. With markets now slumping and indicators flashing red, the Trump family’s crypto gains have taken a hit.

Family Tokens and Stocks Plunge

The Trump family’s crypto portfolio has been hit across nearly every venture they touched. 

Their Trump-branded memecoin reached its latest peak on November 10 at $9.49 but has since plummeted to $6.20 — a nearly 35% drop in just a few days. The family’s exact stake is unclear, but estimates suggest the drop erased about $117 million from their holdings.

Trump Media, the parent company of Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, has also suffered losses, particularly after it decided to invest $2 million worth of Bitcoin in July. 

Bloomberg estimates that the value of the president’s stake in the company has dropped by roughly $800 million since September. Trump remains its largest shareholder, with his holdings placed in a trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

Meanwhile, WLFI has seen its token price decline from $0.26 in early September to roughly $0.15. The decline cut Trump’s locked token value almost in half, dropping from nearly $6 billion to around $3.15 billion.

Even their mining venture, American Bitcoin Corp., hasn’t escaped the rout. The company was formed shortly after Trump’s inauguration in partnership with Hut 8 Corp., which took a majority stake.

Eric Trump ended up with about 7.5% of the firm, while Donald Trump Jr. secured a smaller, undisclosed portion. 

The venture initially soared, valuing Eric’s stake at roughly $630 million, but as the market turned, shares fell by more than half, wiping out about $300 million from his holdings.

Market Meltdown Deepens Crypto Losses

The Trump family’s shrinking crypto fortune is just one piece of a wider market collapse that has erased more than $1 trillion in digital asset value. 

The sector is facing one of its sharpest downturns in months. Major tokens are experiencing a decline, leveraged positions are unwinding, and liquidation waves are rippling through derivatives markets.

Bitcoin’s selloff has dragged altcoins and crypto-linked equities lower, highlighting how quickly momentum can reverse in a notoriously volatile industry. 

Retail investors have borne much of the pain. Many piled into tokens, mining stocks, or high-profile branded projects near their highs, only to see prices crater within weeks.

The post Trump’s Crypto Empire Is Crashing — and His Followers Are Paying the Price appeared first on BeInCrypto.

A multisignature wallet tied to the controversial LIBRA meme coin has moved $9 million after nine months of complete inactivity. 

The sudden activity occurred just as the US justice system was considering freezing related funds to protect the ongoing investigation, which is being overseen in the US Southern District Court.

Inactive LIBRA Wallet Awakens

The wallet, labeled “Milei” on several blockchain monitoring platforms, sent 69,000 SOL—worth roughly $9 million—through a series of opaque addresses. 

Blockchain analyst Fernando Molina, who detected the activity, said the path suggests an attempt to obscure the destination of the funds. The wallet had remained untouched since February 15, one day after LIBRA collapsed following its chaotic launch.

Caso $LIBRA :

Cuando faltaban enviar a penas 800 mil dólares de los 9 M, la jueza Rochon cita a Hayden Davis y los damnificados en USA a una audiencia para hoy a las 6pm. Los movimientos continuan mientras tanto

Pude encontrar a donde están enviando el dinero. Es una wallet de… https://t.co/1OtnznC9mX pic.twitter.com/Lr1RnH3zC2

— Fernando Molina (@fergmolina) November 24, 2025

The move represents the first known outflow from any multisig wallet linked to the project. Such wallets require at least two signatures, indicating coordinated action. 

The timing also coincides with an emergency request filed in Manhattan, where plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit seek to halt further fund movements before more assets disappear. The request is now before Judge Jennifer Rochon, who is presiding over the case.

Threat of Lost Evidence

Legal counsel from the Burwick Law firm, representing plaintiffs, told the court that they believe the defendants may soon convert their remaining assets into privacy coins that can erase all transaction history. 

Court documents warn that critical funds linked to the LIBRA launch could be lost if the conversion occurs. The filing claims the defendants are only steps from destroying evidence.

The plaintiff’s lawyers argued that the concerns were not hypothetical, according to court documents accessed by BeInCrypto. 

They pointed to two specific incidents on November 16 and November 18. These events showed that the defendants had already begun using anonymization tools designed to erase the blockchain trail.

Plaintiffs Argue Funds at Risk

According to the legal filing, the first event, held on November 16, served as a clear test run. A wallet linked to the LIBRA team routed funds through the NEAR Intents protocol and then into a shielded Zcash address. 

Once inside Zcash’s privacy pool, the money became mathematically untraceable. Plaintiffs described this as a deliberate proof of concept showing that the defendants could make LIBRA proceeds disappear beyond recovery.

Two days later, the activity escalated significantly. On November 18, defendants began converting more than $60 million in USDC tied to LIBRA into roughly 456,000 SOL. 

The funds were then consolidated into two newly created “positioning” wallets—a common step used before assets are pushed through privacy systems or cross-chain anonymization routes. 

The movement, according to the filing, strongly suggested preparation for a full-scale laundering operation similar to the one conducted on November 16. 

The escalating activity has now prompted the court to act urgently. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief is scheduled for this Tuesday at 4 p.m. EST.

For investigators and plaintiffs, the coming hearing could determine whether the remaining LIBRA funds stay traceable or disappear for good.

The post Dormant LIBRA Wallet Moves $9 Million Amid US Pressure appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The new location-visibility feature on X has sparked an immediate wave of racism, harassment, and doxxing across Crypto Twitter. 

The update has also raised serious safety concerns, with experts warning it could make crypto-targeted crime and kidnappings easier.

Twitter’s New Location Tool

X now has a new “About This Account” feature that displays the country or region linked to every user profile, marking one of the platform’s most significant shifts toward identity transparency. 

The update appears automatically on profile pages and cannot be disabled, giving audiences a clearer sense of where accounts are based. According to the company, the feature helps combat misinformation, reduce bot activity, and provide more context around conversations.

“This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see on X,” said Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X. 

The move follows months of internal discussion about how to make interactions on X more accountable and less anonymous.

However, it has also fueled a rise in racist behavior on the platform and intensified fears about security risks, particularly in crypto circles.

Racism Spikes Post-Update

Many users say the feature has already triggered a wave of hostility across the platform. 

Shortly after the rollout, Crypto Twitter timelines filled with screenshots of xenophobic comments, mocking posts, and targeted harassment aimed at users whose newly revealed locations made them easy targets. 

Bullying Indians, Pakistanis, Nigerians, or anyone else because of where they’re from doesn’t make you funny

It just shows what kind of scumbag you are

CT has always been about merit, not nationality or skin color

If you’re still making these type of jokes, you’re not funny.…

— 0xMarioNawfal (@RoundtableSpace) November 23, 2025

Different accounts have since reported being singled out for their nationality or region, turning routine discussions into flashpoints for racial slurs and regional prejudice. 

The shift has exposed long-standing cultural tensions within the crypto community, where anonymity has often protected users from personal attacks tied to identity.

Security concerns escalated just as quickly.

Kidnapping Fears Emerge

Prominent crypto figures have warned that disclosing even regional location data poses real-world risks for anyone discussing or holding crypto. 

🚨WARNING🚨

X is now doxxing everybody’s country by default. Best you can do is change to region.

Given the security risks in crypto, especially with all the recent kidnappings, I think this is a terrible move.

See the image below where you can change from country to region.👇 pic.twitter.com/itn5aLTfkW

— Beanie (@beaniemaxi) November 22, 2025

Several users raised concerns about kidnapping, extortion, and home-targeted crime. These threats are already prevalent in areas where crypto wealth makes individuals vulnerable. Many in the community see anonymity as a key layer of protection. 

Weakening that layer can open new paths for criminals. Users argue that the feature, despite its transparency goals, may expose high-value individuals to danger. They fear it could help bad actors track potential targets by region.

The post Elon Musk’s New X Feature Skyrockets Racism and Crypto Kidnapping Concerns appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Bitcoin has hit liquidation levels last seen during the FTX collapse, but this time the shock came from a market overloaded with unprecedented leverage rather than fraud or exchange failure.

According to some analysts, leverage flushes like this have historically created strong medium-term opportunities, even as broader risks and late-cycle uncertainties remain.

The Spark Behind the Liquidation Wave

Bitcoin has just equalled FTX-era liquidation levels, but this time the cause isn’t an exchange implosion or hidden fraud. Instead, the shock came from a market overloaded with leverage—a buildup that grew quietly for months before breaking open in a matter of hours.

“The market has never carried this much leverage. In 2021, open interest peaked at $16.5 billion. In this cycle, it reached $47.5 billion– three times more. This [illustrates] how aggressive investors have become during this cycle,” Darkfost told BeInCrypto.

Liquidations occur when traders who borrow heavily are unable to maintain their positions once prices move against them. When leverage is stretched across the entire market, even a modest drop can trigger a wave of automated selling.

🚨 BTC LONG LIQUIDATION HAVE REACHED LEVELS NOT SEEN SINCE THE FTX CRASH.

Despite Bitcoin’s correction, many investors tried to time the bottom and go long on BTC.⁰On top of that, a large number of positions had built up over time, contributing to a level of long liquidations… pic.twitter.com/Iy5NMo58sI

— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) November 24, 2025

That is precisely what unfolded this week. The tens of billions of dollars in open interest had accumulated across exchanges, leaving the market vulnerable to any meaningful downturn.

Once Bitcoin slipped, the pressure broke. Forced liquidations cascaded through the system, each one accelerating the next.

“This all-time high in open interest occurred just before the events of October 10 and the series of major liquidations that followed, which increased the short-term volatility,” Darkfost added.

The scale and speed of the wipeout immediately drew comparisons to the FTX collapse.

Fresh Strength After the Shake-Out

Liquidation totals now resemble those seen in November 2022, with more than 9,000 to 10,000 BTC wiped out in a single day. But that’s where the similarity ends. 

In 2022, the market unraveled because of fraud and the failure of a major exchange. This time, the crash came from excessive leverage and normal market mechanics. That difference is crucial. 

The current shake-out does not signal structural failure. Instead, it reflects over-confident positioning and a crowded derivatives market. The unwinding was violent because the leverage was extreme. Yet once that excess leverage washed out, the picture begins to shift. 

“Historically, these deleveraging phases have often offered solid medium-term opportunities, just like after the FTX crash… which marked the end of the bear market,” Darkfost noted. 

Additionally, funding rates turned negative, a sign that traders backed away from overly bullish leveraged bets. Open interest also eased and didn’t rebound immediately, reducing the risk of another rapid wave of forced selling. 

At the same time, spot trading spiked—one of the strongest days of the year—indicating that real buyers, not borrowed money, were stepping in.

“A market rebuilding itself on spot after a leverage flush is a sign that a bottom may be forming. This is exactly the kind of signal you want to see after such a liquidation event,” Darkfost added.

This is where the window of opportunity opens.

Caution Amid a Cleaner Market

When large amounts of leverage are flushed out of the system, the market often becomes more stable. 

But Darkfost argued that before viewing this moment as an opportunity, it’s important to understand why these events happen so violently in the first place. Episodes like this highlight a persistent problem in the crypto industry: many traders still lack a basic understanding of risk.

“People need real education when it comes to risk management. Crypto remains lightly regulated and extremely accessible, and it is possible to use extreme leverage with huge amounts of capital,” he said, adding, “[If] an investor doesn’t perfectly know how to manage risk, their net worth can suffer heavy losses. The higher the leverage, the shorter the lifespan of the trade.”

With that warning in place, Darkfost also noted that the broader environment is not entirely straightforward.

“Given the current context, it is worth adding some nuance because we have reached the end of the cycle for those who still believe in that periodicity. The macro picture is not entirely clear yet and other concerns are emerging, including the possibility that MSCI could identify treasury heavy companies like MSTR.”

Only after acknowledging these risks does the larger historical pattern come into focus. Once excessive leverage is cleared, markets often return to a healthier footing. 

After the FTX collapse, a similar reset marked the end of the bear market and the start of a months-long recovery. A comparable dynamic may be taking shape again—although this time with more nuance and more variables at play.

The post Bitcoin Just Matched FTX-Era Liquidation Levels – But It Could Create an Opportunity appeared first on BeInCrypto.

DeFi has spent years optimizing AMM curves, fee models and routing logic, yet one fundamental issue has remained largely untouched: most liquidity in automated market makers does not actually work. The majority of capital deposited into pools sits unused, fragmented across dozens of pairs and protocols. At Devconnect Buenos Aires, 1inch unveiled Aqua, a protocol designed to challenge that limitation directly.

Instead of locking assets into separate pools, Aqua enables a single wallet balance to support multiple strategies simultaneously. It introduces a shared-liquidity architecture that could reshape how capital efficiency and yield generation function across the ecosystem. With developers, researchers and protocol builders gathered in Buenos Aires, the timing was deliberate.

In this interview, we speak with Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch, about what Aqua is, how it works, and why it represents one of the most significant shifts in liquidity design since 1inch introduced aggregation in 2019.

Why did you choose Devconnect Buenos Aires as the moment to introduce Aqua?

Sergej Kunz:
Devconnect gathers a technical audience that understands what goes into building and securing a protocol. Aqua needs exactly that level of scrutiny. Presenting it here allows us to talk directly to developers, researchers, and security experts who can challenge the model, test it and eventually build on it.

The choice makes sense. Aqua isn’t a marketing product ; it’s infrastructure, and Devconnect is one of the few events where infrastructure launches truly land with the right crowd.

For readers who haven’t followed the announcement closely: what is Aqua? And why this approach?

Sergej Kunz:
Aqua addresses a core problem in DeFi: around 80 to 90 percent of capital sitting in liquidity pools isn’t actually working. It’s there to support the AMM curve, but it does not actively generate value. With Aqua, users don’t have to lock assets in separate pools. Assets stay in the wallet and can support multiple strategies at the same time. Think of it as a virtual DEX engine running inside your wallet, while remaining fully self-custodial.

In other words, Aqua changes the assumption that liquidity must be fragmented across dozens of pools. It lets one balance behave like several without compromising security.

So how does that translate into higher capital efficiency?

Sergej Kunz:
With traditional AMMs, if you want to support several trading pairs, you divide your liquidity into multiple buckets. That reduces utilization. With Aqua, the full amount of an asset can work across multiple AIMM strategies in parallel. The result is higher liquidity depth and significantly higher yield. Our backtests show returns increasing five times or more, and shared liquidity can push that effect up to fifteen times compared to legacy AMMs.

This is where Aqua becomes more than a conceptual improvement: it directly affects LP earnings.

Who is Aqua intended for at this stage?

Sergej Kunz:
Right now, this release is for developers, security experts and researchers. They’re the ones who will probe the protocol. When the production version goes live, it will target liquidity providers who want higher yield with less fragmentation.

What was the reaction like at Devconnect?

Sergej Kunz:
The community here is extremely engaged. Many developers visited the booth wanting to understand how one liquidity position can operate across several strategies. Even very technical attendees were surprised this approach hadn’t been implemented before. Their feedback already helped us sharpen how we explain Aqua ahead of my upcoming talk.

The engagement shows that shared liquidity is still unfamiliar territory but also that the demand for a more efficient model is clear.

Is there anything comparable to Aqua in today’s market?

Sergej Kunz:
No. This is a new architectural model in DeFi. In 2019, 1inch solved fragmentation for takers with aggregation. Aqua solves fragmentation for makers, the liquidity providers. Some projects explored similar ideas, but no one delivered a working shared-liquidity system with such simple integration. Developers can use it with just a few lines of code.

What should the ecosystem expect from 1inch going into 2026?

Sergej Kunz:
This year was intense. We introduced Solana support for intent-based swaps, rolled out cross-chain capabilities and rebranded to reflect our shift toward serving not only Web3 but also traditional companies. We believe every future business will rely on Web3 infrastructure the same way every modern business relies on the internet. Aqua’s full production release is planned for the end of this year or early next year, along with an interface and third-party builders already preparing integrations. And yes, there are additional protocols in the pipeline.

What is your key takeaway from Devconnect this year?

Sergej Kunz:
Many teams believe they compete with each other, but in reality we build different pieces of the same infrastructure. Several developers approached us concerned that Aqua might disrupt their work. My message to everyone is that we are all partners. If we focus on solving foundational problems, the ecosystem becomes easier to use for traditional industries as well.

Conclusion

Aqua marks a meaningful shift in how DeFi thinks about liquidity design. For years, protocols have competed on curve optimizations, fees and routing mechanisms while quietly accepting that most liquidity sits inactive. By introducing a shared-liquidity architecture that allows one balance to serve multiple strategies, 1inch is pushing the conversation toward a more efficient and more composable future.

The timing is notable. As the industry moves deeper into intent-based execution, cross-chain liquidity and institutional-grade infrastructure, the need for capital to work harder and not just sit untouched becomes increasingly clear. Aqua fits directly into that transition. It gives developers a new primitive to build on and gives liquidity providers a model that aligns yield with actual utilization instead of fragmentation.

Whether Aqua becomes a new standard will depend on how fast the ecosystem adopts it, how builders integrate it and how the production version performs once live. But one thing is certain: introducing a protocol that rewrites the assumptions of AMM liquidity at the end of 2025 sets the tone for a very different 2026. If 1inch delivers on the roadmap Sergej outlines, Aqua could influence not just individual protocols but the underlying architecture of DeFi itself.

The post Aqua, The First Shared Liquidity and the Next Leap in DeFi: A Conversation with 1inch Co-founder Sergej Kunz appeared first on BeInCrypto.

A US court sentenced a man to five years in prison for his leading role in a $9.4 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

He was also ordered to pay over $1 million in forfeiture and over $170,000 in restitution.

Wolf Capital CEO Found Guilty

Travis Ford, a 36-year-old resident of Glenpool, Oklahoma, was the CEO of Wolf Capital Trading LLC, a cryptocurrency investment firm that raised nearly $10 million from around 2,8000 investors. 

According to the US Department of Justice, Ford spent 2023 soliciting investments through his website and various online promotions. He portrayed himself as an experienced trader capable of generating daily returns ranging from 1% to 2% for investors. 

The U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced Wolf Capital Crypto Trading CEO Travis Ford to five years in prison for a $9.4 million crypto Ponzi scheme, ordering over $1 million in forfeiture and $170,000 in restitution after he admitted to defrauding about 2,800 investors.…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 14, 2025

During Ford’s court process, prosecutors argued that he ultimately diverted and misappropriated those funds for personal use and to support his co-conspirators.

In January, Ford admitted guilt to a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As part of his plea, he acknowledged knowing that the investment returns he advertised could not be consistently delivered.

This case marks yet another crypto-related Ponzi scheme to surface in the headlines in recent months.

Crypto Fraud Surges Worldwide

In recent months, several major crypto Ponzi schemes have reappeared in headlines worldwide. 

A similar case came last month, when Thai authorities arrested Chinese national Liang Ai-Bing in Bangkok. He is accused of helping run the FINTOCH scheme, which allegedly stole more than $31 million from nearly 100 investors across Asia. Officials say the operation spanned multiple countries and relied on aggressive online marketing.

In August, a New York court issued another major ruling. Judges ordered EminiFX founder Eddy Alexandre to repay $228 million after regulators determined his AI-themed platform was a large-scale fraud. The scheme heavily targeted immigrant communities in the United States. 

A third case surfaced weeks earlier in Detroit, when city officials sued Florida-based RealT for selling tokenized shares of homes it never owned. The company raised roughly $2.72 million from investors through these offerings. 

While Ford’s conviction highlights a tougher stance from authorities, the wave of recent cases makes clear that crypto fraud is spreading faster than enforcement can keep up.

The post US Man Behind $9.4 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme Learns His Fate in Court appeared first on BeInCrypto.

For the first time in the company’s history, Strategy’s market value has fallen below the net asset value of its Bitcoin holdings.

This reversal means that the total value of the Bitcoin it owns is now less than the total debt the company took on to acquire it. Analysts worry that if bearish conditions continue, Strategy could enter into a death spiral.

Debt Load Turns Into Liability

Bitcoin’s sharp decline today is being closely tied to mounting pressure on Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the largest corporate holder of the asset. 

Market sentiment shifted abruptly after Bitcoin broke below the $100,000 threshold, trading near $95,562 at the time of writing. The downturn intensified concerns about Strategy’s leveraged position, adding pressure to an already fragile market environment.

This is why BTC is nuking:

For the FIRST TIME EVER @MicroStrategy has gone below 1 NAV.

Meaning that Saylor's BTC holdings are worth less than their total debt.

Traders are front-running the death spiral of $MSTR and its eventual BTC force selling. pic.twitter.com/uLTmeidZVU

— Derivatives Monke (@Derivatives_Ape) November 13, 2025

The shakeup also renewed questions about the long-term viability of its allocation model, which relies heavily on aggressive leverage. Chairman Michael Saylor uses billions in borrowed capital to expand the company’s Bitcoin holdings, magnifying both gains and risks.

When Bitcoin rises, that leverage amplifies gains. But when it falls, the company’s debt load becomes a point of vulnerability.

This playbook has raised fresh concerns among traders that Strategy could slip into what some call a “death spiral.” Falling BTC prices are steadily eroding the value of the company’s collateral.

In that scenario, the company could be forced to sell part of its holdings to meet its obligations. Even if such a scenario never materializes, the possibility alone is enough for market participants to reposition.

Saylor Addresses Selling Speculation

Beyond Strategy’s structural leverage risk, market participants also worry about the impact the market would suffer if Saylor were to unload some of his holdings.

Strategy currently owns 641,692 BTC, or roughly 3% of the total circulating supply. If the company were forced to liquidate a substantial portion of that stash, the resulting increase in supply could significantly impact the market.

We are ₿uying.pic.twitter.com/6g11E9G6pO

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) November 14, 2025

The growing concern pushed Saylor to address speculation about a possible Bitcoin sell-off. In an interview with CNBC, the Strategy founder reiterated his long-term conviction in Bitcoin and dismissed the rumors of a sell-off. 

“My view is [that] Bitcoin is going to outperform gold, it’s going to outperform the S&P, it is digital capital, and so if you’re a long-term investor, this is the place to be,” Saylor said. 

Despite his confidence, today’s developments inevitably raise concerns about structural vulnerabilities in Strategy’s accumulation strategy.

The post MicroStrategy Now Owes More Than Its Bitcoin Is Worth appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Criminals in Australia are impersonating law enforcement officers and using forged cybercrime reports to scam people into believing their personal data has been compromised. 

Then, hackers pressure victims into transferring their crypto to scam-controlled wallets, draining their funds.

Scammers Exploit Fake Police Reports

Australian authorities have issued a warning after uncovering a scam in which cybercriminals impersonate federal police to steal cryptocurrency.

The AFP-led cybercrime coordination center has detected a series of schemes in which scammers obtain personal information and use it to lodge fake cybercrime reports through the government’s ReportCyber portal.

Scammers then reportedly call victims and claim their data appeared in a cryptocurrency-related breach. The scammers share a real-looking reference number and direct victims to check it online. The report appears in the system, which makes the call seem legitimate.

A second caller, pretending to be from the victim’s crypto platform, urges them to move their assets into a supposed cold storage wallet.

Officials emphasized that genuine law enforcement officers will never request access to cryptocurrency accounts, seed phrases, or banking details.

This case highlights a growing problem, as scammers are increasingly using social engineering and spoofed phone numbers to deceive victims.

Social Engineering Threats Continue Growing

The Australian scam emerges amid a clear global escalation in social engineering attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders.

🚨Crypto crime is rising fast, bad actors now spend 14x higher fees to stay hidden

Report By @chainalysis

Crypto Theft in 2025 (So Far)
-> $2.17 Billion Stolen by Mid-July 2025
– > Already more than all of 2024

Major Hack: Bybit (North Korea-backed)
–> $1.5 billion stolen… pic.twitter.com/QxFwoxEhYa

— Kashif Raza (@simplykashif) July 18, 2025

In August 2025, a victim lost $91 million worth of Bitcoin after scammers impersonated support staff from Coinbase and major crypto services, marking one of the largest single thefts of its kind. 

Earlier, in the United Kingdom, a fraudster posing as a senior police officer deceived another victim. The user lost $2.8 million in Bitcoin through a fake cold-storage website. 

In May, a global phishing network impersonating Coinbase stole over $20 million by directing users to spoofed support sites. 

Collectively, these cases demonstrate the increasing scale and sophistication of social engineering attacks in the cryptocurrency sector.

The post A New Trend In Crypto Scam – Posing As Police To Steal Millions appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Analysts warn that several subtle market signals suggest Bitcoin may be approaching the start of a bear market in November. 

Selling pressure from long-term holders, weakening correlation behavior with tech stocks, and Bitcoin’s failure to hold key technical levels are all indicating a fading of bullish momentum. These trends indicate growing downside risk even amid supportive macro conditions.

Early Warning Signs

Market analysts are increasingly concerned that Bitcoin’s broader uptrend may be weakening. One of the clearest warning signs is coming from long-term holders.

Since mid-year, veteran investors and early whales have been steadily selling their positions, a trend that has accelerated in the past year.

Long-term $BTC holders are accelerating their distribution, with supply declining fast and net position change falling sharply into negative territory.
LTHs are booking profits as bulls defend $100k. https://t.co/yatqA1O7nd pic.twitter.com/rZ8XMSRZXR

— glassnode (@glassnode) November 13, 2025

This shift has triggered a danger signal on the Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) indicator. The metric shows when older, inactive coins suddenly move or get sold.

This month, negative CDD readings have coincided with ETF outflows, resulting in a combination of weak demand and rising supply.

“Long-term holders might be distributing into weakness, not strength—a potential bearish signal,” community analyst Maartunn said in a social media post.

While selling pressure from long-term holders is significant, a broader concern arises when examining Bitcoin’s behavior in relation to traditional financial markets.

A Weak Response to Bullish Catalysts

Wintermute data shows that Bitcoin still moves closely with the Nasdaq-100, maintaining a correlation near 0.8.

Yet this relationship is becoming asymmetric. When the Nasdaq drops, Bitcoin tends to fall more sharply. When the Nasdaq rallies, Bitcoin reacts only mildly.

This imbalance reflects behavior observed in earlier bearish periods, such as the 2022 crypto winter. It suggests that investors treat Bitcoin as a high-risk asset during downturns but are hesitant to reward it when conditions improve.

“Historically, this kind of negative asymmetry doesn’t appear near tops but rather shows up near bottoms. When BTC falls harder on bad equity days than it rises on good ones, it usually signals exhaustion, not strength,” Wintermute’s Jasper de Maere said in a blog post.

Adding to this caution is Bitcoin’s recent failure to rebound from its 50-week moving average. This is the first time since the previous cycle bottom that BTC has not bounced from that long-term support. 

For the first time since the bottom of the bear market, Bitcoin has not bounced off the 50w MA.

Prior to this month, Bitcoin has bounced of the 50w MA three times.

Each time, it was followed by a large move to the upside. This time, it seems to be changing the trend. https://t.co/vR4qJsXPOq pic.twitter.com/2nTuBkCTdT

— ₿rett (@brett_eth) November 12, 2025

In earlier stages of the cycle, Bitcoin recovered from this level three times, each recovery triggering a strong rally. The latest failure to reclaim the 50-week MA suggests that a potential trend reversal may be forming.

Although not conclusive on their own, these signals become more notable because Bitcoin is declining despite government stimulus and despite Federal Reserve rate cuts. Normally, both developments act as strong bullish catalysts. 

The post The Silent Signals Hinting Bitcoin’s Next Bear Market May Start in November appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) has entered the digital asset market for the first time on Thursday, allocating $1 million to build a blockchain-based pilot portfolio. This acquisition was conducted separately from the bank’s official international reserves.

The CNB emphasized that it has no intention of adding Bitcoin or other digital assets to its official international reserves. Instead, it made this move to prepare for a future in which digital currencies are more widely used.

Czechia Launches Pilot Crypto Portfolio

Along with its Bitcoin exposure, the CNB’s pilot portfolio will also hold a USD-denominated stablecoin and a tokenized deposit recorded on the blockchain. 

The bank noted that the size of this portfolio will remain fixed. Its goal is to gain hands-on experience managing digital assets.

The CNB will examine how to manage private keys and set up multi-level approvals. It will also conduct crisis simulations, review security procedures, and verify compliance with AML regulations.

The Czech National Bank has purchased digital assets for the first time in its history. 🌐

Through this USD 1 million investment, the CNB has created a test portfolio of digital assets based on blockchain. 🔗 In addition to bitcoin, the portfolio will include a test investment… pic.twitter.com/H6qj9HJHRw

— Česká národní banka (@CNB_cz) November 13, 2025

The board approved the purchase last month after reviewing an analysis exploring potential investments outside traditional asset classes. That report concluded that digital assets are developing rapidly and are likely to see broader adoption over time. 

“The aim was to test decentralised bitcoin from the central bank’s perspective and to evaluate its potential role in diversifying our reserves,” said CNB Governor Aleš Michl in a press release.

Although the move may seem small in scale, it carries wider significance.

CNB Pushes Forward Despite ECB Pushback

Central banks rarely buy digital assets directly, and the CNB’s decision signals a shift toward hands-on understanding rather than theoretical observation. The pilot does not signal a change in reserve strategy, but it does show that the bank wants to build internal expertise before digital assets become mainstream in payments.

The CNB’s decision comes shortly after Luxembourg’s sovereign wealth fund disclosed that it had allocated one percent of its portfolio to Bitcoin-based securities. That move made Luxembourg the first European country to take such a step. 

The CNB’s announcement now shows that Luxembourg wasn’t the only member state exploring direct exposure to digital assets.

JUST IN: 🚨🇪🇺 ECB President Christine Lagarde says #Bitcoin will NOT enter the reserves of any of the Central Banks of the General Council. pic.twitter.com/5yb55mDgHI

— Subjective Views (@subjectiveviews) January 30, 2025

Czechia’s decision came as something of a surprise. In January, the CNB announced that it was considering adding Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Just one day later, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde dismissed the idea, stating firmly that Bitcoin had no place in the European central banking system.

The CNB’s announcement today marks a subtle pushback against the ECB’s stance on crypto.

The board has found a way to pursue its interest in Bitcoin without straining its relationship with Lagarde. By keeping the asset outside its official reserves, it can experiment without challenging ECB policy.

The post Czechia Buys $1 Million In Bitcoin –– But It’s Not Building a Reserve appeared first on BeInCrypto.