A new report from Bitget, SlowMist and Elliptic highlights the severity of deepfake scams, urging both individuals and organizations to adopt more stringent preventive measures. The rise of artificial intelligence is fueling a sharp increase in crypto-related fraud, with deepfake technology driving a surge in sophisticated scams, according to a new report. In the first quarter of 2025, at least 87 scam rings using AI-generated deepfakes were dismantled, according to the 2025 Anti-Scam Research Report co-authored by crypto exchange Bitget, blockchain security firm SlowMist, and analytics provider Elliptic. The report also reveals crypto scams reached $4.6 billion in 2024, marking a 24% increase from the year before. Nearly 40% of high-value fraud cases involved deepfake technologies, with scammers increasingly using sophisticated impersonations of public figures, founders and platform executives to deceive users. Read more
Bitcoin exposure may provide a lucrative financial opportunity for Apple’s stock buyback program, according to Michael Saylor. Apple, the world’s fourth-largest company by market capitalization, should buy Bitcoin (BTC) to address the poor performance of its stock buyback program, according to Strategy executive chairman, Michael Saylor. “Apple should buy Bitcoin,” Saylor said in a June 10 X post. Saylor’s comment responded to Jim Cramer’s criticism of the Apple buyback program. Read more
The Bank of Japan’s June meeting could trigger a Bitcoin rally if it restarts quantitative easing, as bond yield concerns push institutions toward BTC as a hedge. The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) upcoming monetary policy meeting in June may provide the next significant catalyst for global risk assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies. The BoJ is set to take its next interest rate decision at its upcoming monetary policy meeting on June 16–17. The central bank may provide the next significant catalyst for Bitcoin (BTC) and other risk assets if it pivots to quantitative easing (QE), according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer of Maelstrom. Read more
Trump’s CFTC nominee Brian Quintenz says blockchain will reshape industries beyond finance and calls for clear crypto rules to protect US leadership. Brian Quintenz, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has said that blockchain is a foundational technology poised to transform much more than just finance. In prepared remarks ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing shared with Cointelegraph, Quintenz pointed out the long-term impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. “I view blockchain as a horizontal technology that has the potential to touch every aspect of society,” he said. Quintenz, who most recently served as the global head of policy at a16z Crypto (Andreessen Horowitz’s digital asset arm), also mentioned the importance of a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto markets. Read more
Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins also bashed the previous administration under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler and its approach to crypto. The US securities regulator is working on an “innovation exemption” to stoke the creation of more onchain products and services, according to Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins. Atkins, a former crypto lobbyist, said during a Monday crypto roundtable led by the SEC’s crypto task force titled DeFi and the American Spirit that he has directed staff to consider a conditional exemption relief framework. These temporary exemptions would relieve firms from specific regulatory requirements to foster innovation in emerging tech sectors, provided they meet certain conditions. Read more
The UK Insolvency Service has hired a former police investigator to help creditors recover cryptocurrency from failed companies and criminal cases. The UK Insolvency Service has appointed its first crypto intelligence specialist to help recover crypto from bankruptcy and criminal cases. Andrew Small, a former police investigator with a background in economic crime, will lead efforts to trace and reclaim crypto assets that haven’t been accounted for in those proceedings, according to a June 9 statement from the Insolvency Service. It comes as the number of crypto-related insolvency cases in the UK has risen by 420% over the last five years, while the estimated value of crypto assets identified in insolvency cases has increased 364 times to 523,580 British pounds ($709,500) over the same time frame. Read more
Evita Pay founder Iurii Gugnin has been accused of using sanctioned Russian banks to launder millions into the US, with the funds used in part to undermine American interests. A crypto founder has been arrested in New York for allegedly using his crypto firm, Evita Pay, to funnel around $530 million into the US from sanctioned Russian banks to help Russians access highly sensitive American technology. Iurii Gugnin was hit with a 22-count indictment and will face charges related to wire and bank fraud, money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, among others, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. If convicted, Gugnin could spend life behind bars. It’s the latest case involving the use of crypto to attempt to bypass sanctions and launder funds. Read more
Paul Atkins called the right to self-custody a “foundational American value” when addressing regulators and industry leaders discussing DeFi. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins took aim at the previous administration’s crypto policies in the regulator’s latest roundtable event exploring digital asset regulation. In a Monday event led by the SEC’s crypto task force titled “DeFi and the American Spirit,” Atkins said the prior administration, suggesting the agency’s stance on digital assets under former chair Gary Gensler, took a heavy-handed approach through the courts. He added that the SEC’s policies on staking as a service provider needed congressional approval to have lasting authority, and touted self-custody as a “foundational American value.” “I’m in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets, especially where intermediation imposes unnecessary transaction costs or restricts the ability to engage in staking and other onchain acti...