Korea Customs $101M Remittance Ring WeChat, Crypto Wallets

South Korean authorities have uncovered an underground remittance operation that moved roughly 150 billion won (about $100 million to $110 million) through digital assets, according to local media reports. The Korea Customs Service has referred three suspects for prosecution, including a Chinese man in his 30s, on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act, … Read more

Bridges Are Crypto’s Next FTX Waiting To Happen

Opinion by: Kadan Stadelmann, chief technology officer of Komodo Platform Crypto didn’t get wrecked by regulators or some shadowy conspiracy. The industry did this to itself. It handed control of cross-chain liquidity to a handful of intermediaries, who it called “bridges,” wrapped assets in slick tickers, and pretended that was decentralization. Every time one of … Read more

Vitalik Buterin Calls for ‘New Designs’ of DAOs

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for new decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) designs, arguing that the sector needs more than token-voting treasuries if it wants to improve on traditional corporate and political structures.  In a Monday X post, Buterin said that current DAOs often amount to “a treasury controlled by token holder voting.” That model … Read more

Hong Kong Lobby Seeks Softer CARF, CRS Penalty Rules

The Hong Kong Securities & Futures Professionals Association (HKSFPA) has urged the city’s government to soften some elements of its planned implementation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) crypto reporting standards. The industry body warned that the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and related Common Reporting Standard (CRS) amendments could saddle … Read more

Bitcoin Open Interest Recovers 13% As Options Flip Futures

Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) — a measure of derivative market participation — has gained almost 13% from the start of the year, which analysts say could reflect more risk appetite for crypto.  The increase follows a sharp deleveraging phase from October through December, when Bitcoin derivatives exposure fell alongside a broad market correction. Bitcoin … Read more

Senate Judiciary Wants Dev Protections Out of Crypto Bill

US Senate Judiciary Committee leaders are seeking to remove crypto developer protections from the Senate’s crypto market structure bill, arguing the provisions would weaken unlicensed money transmitting laws. Senate Judiciary chair Charles Grassley and the committee’s top Democrat, Richard Durbin, told Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and top Democrat Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday that … Read more

Binance Australia Restores Direct Bank and PayID Transfers for User

Update Jan.19, 6:50 am: This article has been updated to include a statement from Matt Poblocki. Crypto exchange Binance has reintroduced direct bank transfers in Australia two years after the exchange was abruptly “cut off” from the Australian banking system.  As of last Friday, Binance Australia has relaunched direct fiat bank and PayID deposits and … Read more

Why Wrench Attacks Are Becoming Crypto’s Most Violent Crime

In January 2025, French authorities freed Ledger co-founder David Balland after kidnappers demanded a large ransom in cryptocurrency. The case illustrated what crypto crime can look like when it leaves the screen and becomes a physical hostage situation. In fact, crypto-related disputes and theft are increasingly linked to real-world violence, including abduction attempts and ransom … Read more