Crypto

Taiwan-based exchange BitoPro confirmed an $11.5 million crypto exploit weeks after the breach, saying user funds and withdrawals were unaffected. Update June 2, 12:26 pm UTC: This article has been updated to include quotes from Hacken analysts. Taiwan-based cryptocurrency exchange BitoPro confirmed a security breach that led to the loss of more than $11.5 million in digital assets from its hot wallets on May 8. The suspicious transactions, which occurred across hot wallets on Ethereum, Tron, Solana and Polygon, saw asset outflows to decentralized exchanges (DEXs) where they were later marked as sold, according to onchain investigator ZachXBT. Read more

Bitcoin price expectations are back in flux as a record monthly candle close contrasts with worries over a retest of lower support levels next. Bitcoin (BTC) starts June with BTC price action in a dangerous place. Can buyers preserve key bull market support levels? Bitcoin traders are gearing up for fresh volatility as the highest-ever monthly close contrasts with increasing bets of a $100,000 retest. Labor market weakness and Fed policy are back under the microscope as inflation diverges from interest rates. Read more

Metaplanet now ranks as the ninth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder with over 8,888 BTC, surpassing Galaxy Digital and Block Inc. after a $117.9 million purchase. Japanese investment company Metaplanet has become the world’s eighth-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, continuing its aggressive strategy to promote Bitcoin adoption across Asia. The company acquired an additional 1,088 Bitcoin (BTC) at an average price of $108,400 per coin for a total of $117.9 million, the investment firm announced in a June 2 X post. The latest acquisition pushed Metaplent’s total holdings to over 8,888 BTC, making it the world’s eighth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, surpassing Galaxy Digital Holdings’ 8,100 BTC and Block Inc.’s 8,485 BTC, according to Bitbo data. Read more

Bitcoin fell 11% from its $111K all-time highs as traders say BTC price could drop to $97K if key support levels don’t hold amid rising trade tensions. Key takeaways: The emergence of a bear flag on the four-hour chart projects a Bitcoin price drop to $97,000. Traders say BTC price may drop as low as $85,000 if key support levels are broken, including the $100,000 psychological level and the yearly opening at around $92,000. Read more

The new launch expands IG’s existing cryptocurrency offering, as the company has previously offered crypto-based contracts for difference. IG Group, a United Kingdom-listed trading and financial services company, is launching cryptocurrency trading to retail investors, expanding its footprint in the digital assets space. IG customers can now access 31 crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and a variety of altcoins and memecoins such as Bonk (BONK), the company said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on June 2. IG previously offered cryptocurrency exposure through contracts for difference (CFDs), but this marks a direct entry into spot crypto trading Read more

Orange Cap Games has acquired the Moonbirds, Mythics and Oddities NFT collections from Yuga Labs, just a year after the NFT conglomerate acquired them. Crypto gaming startup Orange Cap Games (OCG) has acquired the intellectual property of the Ethereum-based non-fungible token collection Moonbirds from Yuga Labs. OCG said on May 30 that it bought the Moonbirds, Mythics and Oddities NFT collections from Yuga, but did not disclose details or pricing of the deal. It comes a little over a year after Yuga acquired the three collections when it took over the company that created them, PROOF, in February. Read more

ZachXBT says both the wallet addresses that sent Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht 300 Bitcoin were active in 2014 and 2019 while he was in prison. Ross Ulbricht’s recent receipt of 300 Bitcoin is from “questionable sources,” but it’s unlikely to be a case where he donated it to himself, says blockchain researcher ZachXBT. Ulbricht, who founded the infamous online black market Silk Road, received 300 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $31.4 million, to his wallet that was soliciting donations, Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said in a June 1 post to X. The funds came from wallets using a centralized mixing service called Jambler, which led some social media users to speculate, without evidence, that the funds could be Ulbricht’s profits from the Silk Road, which he might have hidden away before he was nabbed by authorities and sent to prison. Read more

Meta shareholders shut down a proposal to assess whether Bitcoin should be added to its balance sheet, with just 0.08% of votes in favor of the idea. Meta shareholders have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to assess whether the tech giant should add Bitcoin to its balance sheet. A “Bitcoin treasury assessment” proposal put before shareholders received 3.92 million votes in favor — a mere 0.08% of the total — while nearly 5 billion voters decided against the measure, a May 28 regulatory filing shows.  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls 61% of the company’s voting power, according to an April regulatory statement, which could indicate that he voted against the proposal. Read more

BitMEX says it foiled a Lazarus phishing attempt posing as an NFT collab, citing sloppy tradecraft and reused tactics.

CZ’s proposal for a dark pool-style perp DEX is a compelling next step for DeFi privacy and infrastructure, experts told Decrypt.

Prosecutors allege Duplessie and Woeltz held an Italian national hostage for 17 days in a Soho townhouse to force access to a Bitcoin wallet.

Musk says X's upcoming messaging feature will use 'Bitcoin style' encryption, but crypto experts aren't sure what that means.

The founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, received 300 BTC, worth around $31.4 million, in a single donation from an unknown wallet, data from Arkham Intelligence shows.  Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison, received a full and unconditional pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump on January 21. He was released […] The post Silk Road founder receives $31.4M BTC donation after bagging $1.8M in auction appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The SEC raised concerns over staking-linked ETFs a day after stating that most crypto staking falls outside the scope of securities laws.

Bitcoin still looks bullish, but some metrics are pointing to an overheated market, says CryptoQuant

American economist Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in 2008, believes that stablecoins do not have any practical utility. In a May 30 blog post entitled ‘Digital Corruption Takes Over DC,’ Krugman opined that “stablecoins don’t serve any clearly useful function,” adding: “They [stablecoins] can’t be used to make ordinary purchases, and there’s nothing […] The post Nobel prize-winning economist says ‘stablecoins don’t serve any clearly useful function ’; Coinmetrics co-founder disagrees appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Video game retailer GameStop makes its first big Bitcoin purchase, even more crypto games go offline, and other news from the last week.

Traders are maximizing short-term profit strategies as the long-term economic outlook becomes increasingly unclear, Arrash Yasavolian said. Traders are increasingly pivoting to quick, short-term profit-taking strategies, in response to US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, rather than letting their positions run, according to Arrash Yasavolian, CEO and founder of the Bittensor-based Taoshi AI-enhanced trading platform. In an interview with Cointelegraph, the CEO said the tariffs have created headline-driven volatility across financial markets that can shift sentiment, often oscillating between extremes in a single day. This has made markets far more difficult to trade. Yasavolian added: "That is the kind of behavior we have witnessed and we have shifted to this strategy internally as well," the CEO told Cointelegraph. Read more

Trump's pro-crypto agenda, including SEC reforms and meme coin launch, is influencing sentiment in the UK and Singapore as well.

Welcome to Slate Sundays, CryptoSlate’s new weekly feature showcasing in-depth interviews, expert analysis, and thought-provoking op-eds that go beyond the headlines to explore the ideas and voices shaping the future of crypto. Unlike the Coinbases, Fidelities, and Galaxies of the crypto world that frequently make the headlines, core infrastructure providers quietly building out the rails of […] The post The crypto industry’s ‘silent partners’, how Talos is quietly fueling institutional adoption appeared first on CryptoSlate.