Author: John Smith

A new joint report from Bitget, SlowMist, and Elliptic highlights the rapid rise of AI-powered crypto crime. Crypto crime is evolving, increasingly targeting human psychology as an attack vector. According to the report, published on Tuesday, June 10, social engineering scams are becoming more common, and many now leverage AI to increase their success rate. “In 2024, nearly 40% of high-value frauds involved deepfake technology. And behind most scams—whether Trojan job offers or Ponzi-like “staking platforms”—is some form of social engineering designed to exploit trust, fear, or greed,” Bitget report. For example, scammers have used AI-generated videos of high-profile figures,…

Plasma, a startup focused on stablecoins, raised an impressive $500 million in its latest public token offering, far surpassing its initial target. On June 9, Plasma announced on X that its public token sale for XPL sold out in just 40 minutes. The team initially planned to raise $50 million but had to revise it twice, first to $250 million, then to $500 million, after overwhelming interest from buyers. In total, more than 1,100 wallets participated in the token sale, with a median deposit of approximately $35,000 per wallet. The XPL token sale accounted for 10% of Plasma’s total token…

ProShares and Bitwise have filed for exchange-traded funds tied to shares of Circle Internet Group, just days after the company’s high-profile IPO. The ProShares Ultra CRCL aims to deliver twice the daily performance of Circle’s stock using leverage. Meanwhile, the Bitwise CRCL Option Income Strategy ETF will follow a covered call strategy, generating income by selling call options on CRCL stock while seeking to limit downside risk. Both filings have an effective date of Aug. 20 this year. These filings come just days after Circle’s high-profile IPO, reflecting early institutional confidence in the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin by…

Ripple Labs will invest $5 million to strengthen blockchain education and research across the Asia-Pacific region. According to a June 10 announcement on the company’s blog, Ripple is expanding its University Blockchain Research Initiative in Asia-Pacific with a new $5 million investment. The fund will support academic research and student-led innovation in six countries. This marks Ripple’s latest move to grow its influence in a region known for progressive fintech regulation and rapid digital asset adoption. Through UBRI, Ripple is deepening ties with top institutions in South Korea, Japan, and Singapore, while forging new partnerships in Taiwan and Australia. The…

Cardano has launched Cardinal, its first decentralized finance protocol designed specifically for Bitcoin users.  The announcement was made by Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson on June 9 via X. Developed by Input Output, the research and development team behind Cardano, Cardinal allows Bitcoin (BTC) holders to access DeFi services such as lending, staking, and borrowing without using traditional custodians or centralized bridges. Cardinal functions by wrapping Bitcoin, particularly its unspent transaction outputs. UTXOs are bits of Bitcoin that have been left over from transactions and are used to represent ownership. They are converted into wrapped tokens by the protocol, which…

South Korea’s Democratic Party has formally proposed the Digital Asset Basic Act, introducing a stablecoin licensing regime and expanded oversight under President Lee Jae-myung’s administration. During a June 10 press conference, lawmaker Min Byeong-deok announced the bill’s submission, calling it a foundational step toward comprehensive regulation of digital assets, including stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and related service providers.  Min said the legislation was designed to enhance transparency and investor protection while positioning South Korea as a global leader in the digital economy. The Digital Asset Basic Act builds on the existing Virtual Asset Investor Protection Act, which came into effect in July…

Fartcoin could potentially see significant gains ahead amid hype surrounding an upcoming spot listing on Coinbase. According to data from crypto.news, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) shot up 22% to an intraday high of $1.26 on June 10, morning Asian time, pushing its market cap past $1.23 billion, enough to flip Dogwifhat (WIF) in rankings. Open interest in Fartcoin’s futures market also reached an all-time high of $713 million today, indicating that traders are heavily speculating on further price movements. The long/short ratio on major exchanges is also above 1, signaling more traders are betting long than short, a bullish sign overall. Much…

Canary Capital has registered a Delaware trust for a staked Injective ETF, marking an early step toward potentially launching a tradable INJ product in the U.S. Canary Capital has established a trust for an exchange-traded fund offering exposure to staked Injective (INJ). The trust, named “Canary Staked INJ ETF,” was registered with the Delaware Division of Corporations and is designed to provide staking-based returns linked to the Injective blockchain. While this filing does not guarantee the fund will launch, it follows the common path taken by many crypto ETF issuers. A similar INJ product already exists in Europe, where asset…

Japanese banking firm SBI Holdings has announced a $50 million joint investment into Circle, following its recent $1.1 billion IPO. According to the financial giant’s official press release, the total investment worth at least $50 million will be divided equally between SBI Holdings and its subsidiary SBI Shinsei Bank. Each entity will contribute $25 million each into the USDC (USDC)-stablecoin issuer. The Japanese bank’s decision to invest in the stablecoin firm comes only a few days after the Jeremy Allaire-led company officially went public by listing on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025. The company cited Circle’s…

Uphold is weighing a potential initial public offering or strategic sale as it explores ways to fuel further growth. Digital asset platform Uphold is exploring a potential IPO in the U.S. or a strategic sale, CEO Simon McLoughlin told The Block. The company’s board has engaged investment bank FT Partners to evaluate its options, including a listing on the Nasdaq or a possible merger or acquisition with a financial or payments firm. “We’re currently being courted by a number of banks, brokers, financial institutions and payment firms,” McLoughlin told the Block. According to McLoughlin, an IPO could support Uphold’s longer-term…