Report | Crypto

The newly created Polymarket wallets placed bets on the timing of a US strike against Iran, buying shares hours before the first explosions were reported in Tehran. Six Polymarket traders earned roughly $1 million after accurately betting that the United States would strike Iran before the end of February, triggering insider trading suspicions. The six wallets were all created in February and placed nearly all of their activity on contracts predicting the timing of a potential US attack, Bloomberg reported, citing data shared by analytics firm Bubblemaps SA. In several cases, shares were purchased only hours before explosions were first reported in Tehran, with some contracts acquired for around $0.10, per the report. Read more

Tether blocked billions in USDt tied to scams and laundering cases as authorities increasingly rely on stablecoin issuers to halt suspicious funds. Stablecoin issuer Tether has reportedly frozen roughly $4.2 billion worth of its USDt tokens connected to suspected criminal activity over the past three years. Most of the blocked funds were restricted since 2023, as regulators and law enforcement agencies intensified scrutiny of crypto-related fraud and sanctions evasion, the El Salvador-based firm reportedly told Reuters on Friday. Tether’s dollar-pegged USDt (USDT) token is the largest stablecoin in circulation, with more than $180 billion outstanding, up sharply from about $70 billion three years ago. Read more

The UK lender is reportedly seeking a technology partner to support blockchain-based payments and deposits as stablecoin adoption accelerates across finance and Big Tech. UK banking giant Barclays is reportedly exploring blockchain technology for core banking services, the latest sign that major financial institutions are evaluating digital ledger infrastructure to modernize legacy systems. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported Friday that Barclays is seeking technology providers for a blockchain platform capable of handling payments, deposits and crypto-related applications such as stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The lender has issued requests for information to several technology suppliers, though the companies were not identified. A vendor selection could be made as early as April, the report said. Read more

A proposed law would require online investment influencers to reveal their holdings and paid promotions, with penalties potentially comparable to market manipulation violations. South Korea is reportedly preparing new rules that would force social-media personalities promoting cryptocurrencies and stocks to reveal what they own and whether they are being paid. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, is drafting amendments to the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act and the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, according to a report from Korean-language business news website Herald Business. Under the proposal, individuals who repeatedly offer advice or receive compensation to encourage the public to buy or sell financial products or virtual assets must disclose the compensation received and the type and quantity of assets they hold. The requirement would apply to advice delivered through publications, online communicatio...

Bloomberg reports that Stripe is in early acquisition talks with PayPal as the payments giant has battled competition, leadership turmoil and an 85% stock drop from its peak. Payment processing firm Stripe is reportedly considering an acquisition of all or parts of its rival PayPal Holdings. Stripe is in early talks and has expressed preliminary interest in PayPal or parts of its business, though no deal is guaranteed, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Stripe, which enables enterprises to accept payments, make payouts, and automate financial processes, said on Tuesday that it was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer to shareholders and employees, a 74% jump from a year ago. Read more

After a yearlong share slump, PayPal is fielding buyout approaches as rivals weigh asset sales and a possible full acquisition, according to Bloomberg. PayPal Holdings has reportedly attracted unsolicited takeover interest after a prolonged stock slump left the payments giant trading well below recent highs, signaling that competitors were looking to consolidate their footprint in the digital payments space.  Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported Monday that PayPal has been meeting with banks to review buyout approaches from unnamed investors. One potential bidder — described as an industry rival — is said to be exploring an acquisition of the entire company, while others have expressed interest in specific PayPal assets. There is no guarantee a deal will materialize, and discussions remain at an early stage, the report said. Read more

Analysis by Bitcoin services company River forecasts a transaction surge as individuals and businesses experiment with AI agentic payments. Monthly transaction volume on the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network, a secondary layer for BTC that enables payment use cases, surpassed the $1 billion milestone in November 2025, according to a report from Bitcoin financial services company River. Transaction volume on the Lightning Network hit an estimated $1.1 billion in November, across 5.2 million transactions, according to a report shared by Sam Wouters, River’s director of marketing. The report said: However, the total transaction count in 2025 is lower compared with 2023, when monthly Lightning transactions peaked at 6.6 million in August of that year, which River attributed to experiments with micropayments in gaming and messaging apps. Read more

Local media reported that the stolen 320 Bitcoin was returned to a wallet controlled by authorities, with the unknown hacker seemingly having a sudden change of heart. South Korean prosecutors say they recovered more than 320 Bitcoin that disappeared from government custody in 2025 after the cryptocurrency was returned to an official wallet this week, local media reported. The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office said it unexpectedly recovered 320.88 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $21.3 million at the time of writing, local media outlet The Chosun Daily reported on Thursday. Prosecutors confirmed to the outlet that the unknown hacker returned the stolen Bitcoin to the authorities’ cryptocurrency wallet on Tuesday, and it was later transferred to a secure domestic digital exchange wallet also controlled by authorities. The Bitcoin went missing from prosecutors’ custody during an investigation in August 2025, authorities said at the time. Prosecutors later discovered the loss during a routine inspection of seized f...

New Keyrock research finds not all newly created money impacts risk assets due to how fresh liquidity flows through the economy. Treasury bill issuance is the primary liquidity metric that impacts Bitcoin’s (BTC) price and not the Federal Reserve or any other central bank’s balance sheet, according to a new report from crypto investment firm and market maker Keyrock. Every 1% change in global liquidity levels impacts BTC’s price by 7.6% the following business quarter in which new money is created. However, not all liquidity impacts risk asset prices equally, Keyrock researcher Amir Hajian said. Treasury bill issuance has about an 80% correlation with BTC prices since 2021, and this metric leads BTC prices by about eight months, according to the report. Hajian wrote: Read more

Investigators say Raees and Ameer Cajee are back in South Africa years after Africrypt’s collapse, while investors still struggle to serve legal papers. South Africa’s so-called “Bitcoin Brothers,” Raees and Ameer Cajee, have quietly returned to the country years after the collapse of their crypto investment platform Africrypt, according to a new TV investigation. A segment aired Sunday by investigative program “Carte Blanche” said the pair is residing inside the gated Zimbali Estate in KwaZulu-Natal, MyBroadband reported on Monday. According to the report, journalists attempted to approach the property but were blocked by private security. The team also reportedly traced the brothers to a holiday location in Umhlanga and a recent address in Johannesburg, but failed to make direct contact. Read more

The platform hopes to capture a fraction of the more than $9.6 trillion in daily trading volume in the foreign currency exchange market. World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform backed by the family of US President Donald Trump, announced on Thursday that it will launch foreign currency exchange (FX) and remittance services for its users. The planned foreign exchange and remittance platform, called World Swap, seeks to challenge traditional remittance and FX service providers with lower fees and a simplified user interface, according to Reuters. Daily global FX trading volume surpassed $9.6 trillion in April 2025, according to a report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), and the personal remittances market topped $892 billion in annual volume in 2024, according to data from the World Bank. Read more

Wall Street–style liquidity is reportedly moving into prediction markets, signaling a shift toward deeper markets, higher volumes and greater institutional participation. Jump Trading, a Chicago-based quantitative trading company, is reportedly set to acquire minority stakes in prediction market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi, underscoring growing institutional interest in the rapidly expanding sector. The equity stakes would be obtained in exchange for providing trading liquidity on both platforms, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions. While the report did not disclose specific ownership percentages, Bloomberg said Jump’s stake in Polymarket would scale based on the liquidity the company ultimately provides. Read more

Analysts forecast Block to post $403 million in Q4 profit on $6.25 billion revenue, following a third quarter marked by strong gross profit growth but mixed market reaction. Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block Inc. has begun informing hundreds of employees that their roles could be eliminated during annual performance reviews, as the firm undertakes a wider restructuring effort. As much as 10% of Block’s workforce may be affected, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company employed just under 11,000 people as of late November, an executive reportedly said at the time. The potential layoffs come as Block reshapes its operations following a reorganization launched in 2024 aimed at improving efficiency and aligning its product lines. The company is working to more closely link its peer-to-peer payments platform Cash App with its merchant services arm Square. Read more

Vietnam’s Finance Ministry proposes a 0.1% tax on crypto transfers, 20% corporate tax on profits and tough licensing standards for digital asset exchanges. Vietnam is preparing to introduce a tax framework for cryptocurrency transactions that would align digital assets with securities trading, according to a draft policy circulated by the Ministry of Finance. Under the proposal, individuals transferring crypto assets through licensed service providers would face a 0.1% personal income tax on the value of each transaction, local outlet The Hanoi Times reported. The structure mirrors the levy currently applied to stock trades in the country. According to the report, the draft circular, released for public consultation, classifies crypto transfers and trading as exempt from value-added tax. However, the turnover-based tax would apply to investors regardless of residency status whenever a transfer is executed. Read more

Stablecoin inflows have doubled to $98 billion from previous levels, surpassing the 90-day average of $89 billion. The post Stablecoin Inflows Have Doubled to $98B Amid Selling Pressure – Report appeared first on Cryptonews.

Some crypto companies have proposed giving community banks a bigger stablecoin role as Senate negotiations stall over the contentious market structure bill. Crypto companies are reportedly floating concessions relating to stablecoin yields in an attempt to unfreeze the delayed crypto market structure bill.  The House has advanced crypto market-structure legislation, but negotiations have stalled in the Senate as negotiations continue over whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to offer yields, with banks arguing that such offerings would compete with and take money away from traditional savings accounts. Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that crypto firms are now proposing measures, such as giving community banks a larger role in the stablecoin system, to help ease the bill through the Senate.  Read more

Five New York officials reportedly said Tether and Circle had been incentivized to not work with law enforcement, allowing them to profit off crimes involving stablecoins. Several New York district attorneys have reportedly warned about the US federal stablecoin law, the GENIUS Act, claiming it fails to adequately address fraud. According to a Monday CNN report, New York Attorney General Letitia James and four district attorneys signed onto a letter saying that the GENIUS Act will “provide legal cover” for stablecoin issuers to potentially participate in fraud. The letter reportedly pointed a finger at issuers Tether and Circle, claiming that the companies have profited off crimes in stablecoin markets, specifically accusing Tether of only freezing some suspicious transactions in USDt (USDT). Read more

Hong Kong's monetary authority said only a small number of stablecoin issuers will be approved initially, as application reviews near completion. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong's financial regulator, is preparing to grant its first stablecoin issuer licenses in March, according to a Reuters report.  During a Legislative Council meeting on Monday, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue reportedly said the regulator’s review of stablecoin license applications was nearing completion. Yue added that the initial approvals will be limited, with only a “very small number” of licenses expected to be issued in the first batch.  At a subsequent media briefing, the regulator said the assessments were focused on use cases, risk management, anti-money laundering (AML) controls and the quality of backing assets. Licensed issuers are also expected to comply with Hong Kong’s cross-border activity rules.  Read more

Brian Armstrong made the media rounds before and after he announced Coinbase was pulling its support for a major US crypto bill, reportedly facing off with Jamie Dimon in Davos. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly confronted Brian Armstrong during a coffee chat at Davos last week, telling the Coinbase CEO to stop lying about banks trying to sabotage the digital asset market structure bill under consideration in the US Congress. According to a Thursday report from The Wall Street Journal, the confrontation between Dimon and Armstrong occurred at the World Economic Forum last week when the Coinbase CEO was having coffee with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Dimon reportedly interrupted Armstrong, saying the CEO was “full of s—,” referring to TV interviews in which the Coinbase CEO accused banks of interfering with the US market structure bill.  Banking industry advocates have opposed allowing stablecoin rewards under the legislation. However, many in the crypto industry, including Armstrong, have push...

A potential listing would further legitimize digital asset custody as core market infrastructure rather than a niche service following BitGo's public launch. Digital asset custodian Copper is reportedly weighing an initial public offering (IPO) shortly after rival BitGo debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, underscoring growing institutional appetite for cryptocurrency infrastructure companies.  Citing sources close to the discussions, CoinDesk reported Thursday that Copper is exploring its public listing options, with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup among the banks involved. A Copper spokesperson said the company is not currently planning a public listing, but declined to comment on whether the custodian is in early-stage talks about going public. Read more