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
Bitcoin faced geopolitical instability alone as a weekend move on Iran saw traditional markets closed, with key support still holding. Bitcoin (BTC) daily losses neared 4% on Saturday as the US and Israel announced a military operation in Iran. Key points: Bitcoin targets $63,000 as US President Donald Trump confirms a major bombing campaign inside Iran. Read more
OpenAI will deploy its AI models on Pentagon classified networks after the US government ordered agencies to stop using rival Anthropic over national security concerns. OpenAI has reached an agreement with the United States Department of Defense to deploy its artificial intelligence models on classified military networks, just hours after the White House ordered federal agencies to stop using technology from rival firm Anthropic. In a late Friday post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the deal, saying the company would provide its models inside the Pentagon’s “classified network.” He wrote that the department showed “deep respect for safety” and a willingness to work within the company’s operating limits. The announcement came amid a turbulent week for the AI sector. Earlier the same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” a designation typically applied to foreign adversaries. The ruling requires defense contractors to certify they are not using t...
Mark Karpelès said it has been 12 years since the start of Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy proceedings and “this is probably the last sore point on this whole case.” Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, is calling on community support for a proposal to recover more than $5.2 billion stolen from his Bitcoin exchange more than a decade ago. On Friday, Karpelès submitted a proposal on GitHub to add a consensus rule that would allow the 79,956 Bitcoin hacked from Mt. Gox (currently sitting in a single wallet) to be moved to a recovery address without the original private key. “These coins have not moved in over 15 years. They are among the most well-known and publicly tracked UTXOs in Bitcoin's history,” he wrote. Read more
The Wall Street banking giant has been accelerating its foray into crypto, filing to launch Bitcoin, Ether and Solana ETFs in January. Morgan Stanley has applied for a de novo national trust bank charter, allowing the bank to hold digital assets on behalf of its clients — a move in rhythm with its recent crypto expansion. A public filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows the application for a bank trust charter was received on Feb. 18 under the name “Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association.” More details of the business plan were released on Friday, according to reports from Bloomberg and Forbes, revealing that the Morgan Stanley subsidiary will custody certain digital assets and execute purchases, sales, swaps and transfers to support client investment activities, along with crypto staking. Read more
Paradigm's Matt Huang previously said developments in AI were "too interesting to ignore" and that both AI and crypto will have plenty of overlap. Crypto investment firm Paradigm is seeking to raise $1.5 billion for a new fund that will invest in companies in AI, robotics and other frontier technologies, according to the Wall Street Journal. Paradigm will continue to invest in crypto companies, according to sources familiar with the situation, but it will use its existing technical investment team to look at deals in frontier tech companies, they said. San Francisco–based Paradigm has $12.7 billion in assets under management, according to the latest regulatory filings. Read more