Report | Crypto

Daily NK reported that North Korea arrested former state cyber operators accused of hacking two state banks and laundering funds through crypto. North Korean authorities have reportedly arrested a group of former state cyber operators and IT specialists accused of hacking two state banks and laundering stolen funds through cryptocurrency. South Korean outlet Daily NK reported Thursday, citing an anonymous source in Pyongyang, that the group allegedly hacked the internal networks of North Korea’s central bank and the Foreign Trade Bank, converting stolen state funds into cryptocurrency before laundering them through China-based brokers. Cointelegraph could not independently verify the report. Read more

Ten tokenized dairy cows backed a $19,600 loan registered on Brazil’s B3, in one of Brazil’s first uses of tokenized livestock as loan collateral. Brazil’s B3 stock exchange has reportedly found a new use for dairy cows by backing a loan with tokenized cattle. The transaction involved a loan of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($19,600) secured by 10 dairy cows from Fazenda Engenho Velho in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, valued at about 120,000 Brazilian reais ($23,500). The deal was structured by Brazilian investment fund Target FIDC, according to CNN Brasil. Each cow received a unique digital token linked to an encrypted digital identity, while AI-powered smart collars from agriculture tech company Cowmed monitor each animal’s health, reducing the need for physical inspections. Read more

Mirae Asset reportedly plans to use the South Korean crypto exchange as a hub for tokenized assets, stablecoins and digital finance. South Korean crypto exchange Korbit will reportedly rebrand as Digital X after becoming part of Mirae Asset Group.  Mirae Asset founder and global strategy officer Park Hyeon-joo announced the new name in an internal email to employees on Thursday, according to a Herald Business report. Park reportedly described Digital X as central to the group’s “Mirae Asset 3.0” strategy, which aims to combine digital assets with traditional finance.  The company plans to expand into real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, security token offerings, stablecoins and traditional asset products. Park said the exchange would prioritize anti-money laundering controls, customer verification, information security and fraud detection as South Korea develops its crypto and tokenized securities rules. Read more

Coinbase plans to expand its Singapore office from 150 to about 200 employees by the end of 2026 as it expands its presence in the Lion City. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reportedly plans to expand its presence in Singapore and grow its headcount from 150 to about 200 staff members by the end of 2026.  The cryptocurrency exchange is mainly looking to hire more engineers, customer service, relationship management staff and institutional sales representatives for its Singapore office, which opened at One Raffles Quay on Wednesday, Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s country director for Singapore, told the Business Times in an interview. Ahmed said that Singapore is increasingly becoming a strategic hub for cryptocurrency innovation. Coinbase received a major payment institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s central bank, in October 2023, enabling it to expand its services to Singaporean individuals and institutions. Read more

The Bank of Korea’s CBDC pilot will add two regional banks, new payment features and tests of government subsidy payments using tokenized bank deposits The Bank of Korea may launch the second phase of Project Hangang, its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, as early as September, according to Yonhap News. The next stage expands participation to nine banks from seven, introduces new payment features and tests government subsidy disbursements through tokenized bank deposits. Regional lenders Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank will join the existing group of participants. Project Hangang uses a blockchain-based wholesale CBDC issued by the central bank as the settlement asset for deposit tokens issued by commercial banks. Consumers can then use the bank-issued tokens for everyday payments. Read more

The proceedings come as South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act lacks explicit sanctions provisions for hacking and computer system incidents, leaving the scope of penalties uncertain. South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has reportedly sent an inspection opinion letter to Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, regarding the $36 million hack from November 2025. Local news outlet Yonhap News reported Sunday that the FSS had recently sent Dunamu an inspection opinion letter. The letter marks the formal start of a sanctions procedure by the financial authorities. It provides Dunamu with an opportunity to respond to the inspection’s findings before the regulator notifies the company of its proposed sanctions. Read more

Stripe and Advent reportedly offered to buy PayPal for $53 billion, at a 28% premium compared to the company’s Tuesday closing price. Payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent International reportedly made a joint offer to acquire PayPal Holdings. The offer includes about $50 billion in committed financing, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The joint offer seeks to acquire PayPal at $60.50 per share, which would value the company at a 28% premium to PayPal’s Tuesday closing price. This is Stripe’s second attempt to acquire PayPal. According to a February Bloomberg report, the payment processing company held early acquisition talks with PayPal, which was facing growing competition from smartphone-based payment services such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. Read more

OpenAI’s ChatGPT now displays Kalshi’s World Cup prediction market odds in search results, marking the AI firm’s first reported deal with a prediction market platform. Sam Altman’s OpenAI is bringing prediction market data to ChatGPT, giving World Cup fans a new way to track match predictions. OpenAI has started displaying Kalshi’s prediction market odds for FIFA World Cup matches in ChatGPT search results, according to a report by The New York Times. The integration had not been publicly announced at the time of publication. Kalshi declined to comment to Cointelegraph, while OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more

Witt’s departure comes during a critical moment for the CLARITY Act, with deputy director Harry Jung expected to assume his responsibilities. Patrick Witt, the White House’s pointman on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is taking a leave of absence at the end of July for several months of military training, Crypto In America reported. Witt, who has served as the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets since August, is expected to wrap up his work on July 24 before reporting for Judge Advocate General (JAG) training with the Georgia Army National Guard. The training will qualify him to serve as a legal officer in the Guard, the report wrote. “Patrick has always been forthcoming and honest with every stakeholder that he was taking military leave later this month,” said Cody Carbone, CEO of Digital Chamber, on Tuesday.  Read more

The government-backed roadmap calls for the UK’s first digital gilt by early 2027 and seeks to make tokenized bonds usable for trading and borrowing. The United Kingdom could add up to 33 billion pounds ($44 billion) to its annual economic output by 2035 by becoming a leader in tokenized financial markets, according to a government-backed industry task force.  The estimate appears in the first report from Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard, who was appointed by HM Treasury to help implement the government’s digital markets strategy.  Developed with an industry task force, the report sets out a 12-month plan to test blockchain in a financial transaction where securities are used to borrow cash. It also calls for the UK to issue its first tokenized government bond by the first quarter of 2027. Read more

Matthew Goettsche was set to face trial in October for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities. The US Department of Justice is reportedly moving to drop charges against the founder of BitClub Network, a purported crypto mining platform that allegedly defrauded investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019. A court filing shows Matthew Goettsche’s attorneys wrote to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi on Wednesday, stating that the parties “reached an agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges “but need time to finalize the terms.” Goettsche’s attorneys' letter to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi. Source: Bloomberg Law Read more

Bitcoin miner TeraWulf is reportedly seeking $3.5 billion in debt financing led by Morgan Stanley for its Kentucky data center campus leased by AI company Anthropic. US-listed Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf is reportedly seeking to raise $3.5 billion in debt to expand its Justified Data campus in Kentucky, a facility leased by artificial intelligence company Anthropic under a long-term agreement. The deal is expected to launch this year, with investment bank Morgan Stanley leading the financing effort, TeraWulf chief financial officer Patrick Fleury said, according to a Thursday Bloomberg report. The deal could include leveraged loans and high-yield bonds, marking TeraWulf’s first entry into the leveraged loan market, the report stated. Read more

EU officials reportedly plan to consider changes to the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, dubbed by some as “MiCA 2.0,” in response to a US stablecoin law and rules on tokenized payments and deposits. European Union officials are reportedly planning to revise the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework amid the implementation of a US law on stablecoins. According to a Wednesday report from Euronews, EU officials planned to revisit proposed changes to MiCA to broaden the framework's scope, specifically regarding non-EU companies issuing stablecoins.  The revised rules, which authorities will reportedly consider in 2027, were in response to the US government’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS, Act, putting pressure on EU officials to clarify how US stablecoin issuers could be regulated in member states. Officials will also reportedly consider expanding MiCA to include rules on tokenized payments and deposits. Read more

Andrew Bailey reportedly said Bank of England policy remained independent after a meeting with Nigel Farage that included discussions on cryptocurrency. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has reportedly denied that lobbying efforts by Nigel Farage influenced the central bank’s approach to a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC), saying policy decisions were made independently. According to a Wednesday report by The Guardian, which obtained a letter written by Bailey, the governor said the BoE is “able to spot” attempts to influence its policymaking. The letter followed a meeting with Farage, during which the two discussed several issues, including cryptocurrencies. “Following our meeting, Mr. Farage spoke with the press outlining that we had discussed a range of topics, including cryptocurrencies,” Bailey reportedly wrote in the letter. “I am happy to confirm that no policy changes have taken place as a result of interventions by Mr. Farage.” Read more

India’s tax department reportedly found that fewer than a quarter of the 645,000 people who made crypto transactions reported them on tax returns. India’s tax department reportedly found widespread gaps in crypto tax reporting, warning that offshore exchanges, private wallets and peer-to-peer (P2P) trades are making crypto activity harder to track.  Reuters on Wednesday reported government documents showed that fewer than a quarter of 645,000 individuals who made crypto transactions in the year ending in March 2023 reported the trades on their tax returns. The department also reportedly estimated that India had about 39 million crypto traders holding over $2.1 billion in crypto at the end of May.  The findings add a tax-enforcement factor to the country’s long-running digital asset policy debate, moving the issue beyond the central bank's financial-stability concerns and into questions on offshore trading and recoverable tax revenue. India was ranked first in Chainalysis' 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Re...

Before he was an MP, Nigel Farage was reportedly gifted staff, security and other benefits from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster involved in a crypto casino. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reportedly accepted gifts that he did not publicly disclose from a crypto entrepreneur convicted of fraud in the US, according to The Sunday Times.  The news outlet reported on Saturday that Farage was gifted staff, security, transport and accommodation by George Cottrell, an aristocrat involved in an offshore crypto casino who has been a close adviser to Farage for more than 10 years. Farage said in a statement on Sunday that he “followed the rules” over the gifts from Cottrell, which he received before he was elected a member of parliament in July 2024, and called The Times’ report a “hit job.” Read more

Nansen analysis shows that just under half a million wallets profited on Donald Trump’s memecoin, while the large majority of buyers lost out. Nearly 1 million buyers of Official Trump (TRUMP), US President Donald Trump’s memecoin, have lost a collective $3.8 billion on the token as of the end of June, newly reported analysis shows. As of the end of last month, 988,905 TRUMP buyers, or around two out of every three buyers, have lost money on the memecoin, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing a report by analytics firm Nansen. Those buyers lost a total of $3.81 billion, which includes those who have held on to the token at a loss. Read more

The Major County Sheriffs of America said it still wants the CLARITY Act amended to give local law enforcement more resources to investigate illicit finance cases. The Major County Sheriffs of America reportedly said it no longer opposes the CLARITY Act after initially raising concerns over how the bill would affect illicit finance investigations. In a letter to US Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday, the MCSA said it shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act to “neutral” after some of its concerns in a May 14 letter regarding Section 604 in the bill were addressed. Section 604 relates to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which seeks to protect developers from liability for illicit activity committed by users on their decentralized platforms. Read more

The Indian central bank reportedly urged lawmakers to keep banks insulated from crypto and private stablecoins while preserving room for regulated tokenization. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly backed a containment strategy for digital assets to shield banks and other financial institutions from exposure to crypto and privately issued stablecoins, as lawmakers prepare a report on the country’s digital asset policy.  According to a report by The Economic Times, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan presented the central bank’s position to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday. In a background note submitted to the panel, the RBI reportedly said prohibition remained a recognized policy option and recommended preventing the use of crypto in payments and settlements while restricting banking-sector exposure. Read more

New data from Allium suggests that US users are bypassing geoblocks to bet on markets offered on Polymarket’s global platform. US-based users are the biggest political bettors on Polymarket, despite the crypto-based prediction market’s efforts to restrict US citizens from using the decentralized platform, according to new research.  Blockchain research firm Allium estimated in a report published on Thursday that US-based users are the single biggest political market of any country by contracts traded and wallet count on Polymarket — not to be confused with Polymarket US, which is a US-regulated platform that launched in December with a narrower set of markets. “Blocking access did not end US participation; it made the US the largest single political market on Polymarket by volume,” the report said. “The demand is still there, now offshore and beyond US oversight.” Read more