Report | Crypto

South Korean police reportedly launched the country’s first illegal gambling probe into local Polymarket users amid election-betting scrutiny. South Korean police have reportedly launched the country’s first illegal gambling probe into local Polymarket users, widening regulatory scrutiny of the decentralized prediction market. The investigation is led by Gangwon Provincial Police and was requested by the National Police Agency, according to ChosunBiz.  Users may face fines of up to 10 million won ($6,500) under Article 246 of the Criminal Act covering gambling and habitual gambling. Under current law, Sports Toto is the state-authorized sports betting platform, while unauthorized online betting can be prosecuted under South Korean gambling laws. Read more

After expecting billions of dollars worth of crypto holdings to be reported during a voluntary disclosure period, the country's tax office only saw 58 filers took advantage of the procedure. Israeli taxpayer disclosures of profits from cryptocurrencies have reportedly fallen short of expectations at the Israel Tax Authority after enactment of a policy allowing immunity from criminal proceedings for filers correcting their reports. According to a Wednesday report from Globes, Israeli authorities had expected to gain up to $1 billion in taxes from “voluntary disclosures” allowed under an August 2025 policy, but have so far only received reports of a fraction of those capital earnings. The local news outlet reported that the tax authority had received reports of $50 million combined from crypto capital, with the potential of billions of dollars in underreported holdings. Read more

Reuters reported that Revolut plans to integrate stablecoins into its future US bank as more fintech and crypto companies chase federal banking approvals. Fintech company Revolut plans to offer stablecoins through its future US bank, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing comments from the company's US CEO, Cetin Duransoy. Duransoy told the news service that customers of the bank, which is expected to launch next year, will have access to FDIC-insured accounts, multi-currency deposits, stock trading and cryptocurrency services. He said that Revolut plans to initially target retail and business customers with international banking needs, including those managing multiple currencies. Revolut applied for a US national bank charter in March, which would allow the company to offer federally insured banking products nationwide under a single federal regulatory framework.  Read more

Georgia will reportedly install electricity meters across Mestia to curb illegal crypto mining after officials blamed miners for grid strain and outages. Georgia will reportedly install electricity meters across villages and settlements in Mestia as part of a crackdown on illegal crypto mining that officials say is straining the region’s power grid. Vice Prime Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said Monday that illegal mining had pushed Mestia’s electricity consumption to 133 million kilowatt-hours in 2025, more than 13 times the level of comparable municipalities, according to local outlet 1tv. Read more

Samsung Securities, SDS and Card will buy 4% of Dunamu as Korean firms prepare for tokenized securities and stablecoin frameworks. Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, in a deal that expands Samsung affiliates’ exposure to the country’s digital asset market, local media reported. The three Samsung affiliates held board meetings on Thursday and approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and ZDNet Korea. Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each acquire 1%.  The investment extends Samsung’s digital asset push weeks after Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build South Korea’s blockchain-based securities platform, placing Samsung affiliates across both regulated tokenized securities infrastructure and private-sector crypto exchange an...

South Korean prosecutors reportedly charged a group over the CATFI memecoin rug pull, marking the country’s first DEX rug-pull case under crypto law. South Korean prosecutors charged a group in an alleged rug pull involving the Solana-based memecoin Catpie, or CATFI, in what local media described as the country’s first decentralized exchange (DEX) rug-pull prosecution. The group was reportedly apprehended by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Division. The main suspect, surnamed Park, allegedly posed as “Eth Father” on social media platforms and falsely promoted CATFI as an independent third-party before executing a rug pull that caused about 900 million won ($599,000) in financial damage to at least 256 investors, local news outlet Digital Asset Works said Wednesday. Prosecutors allege the group promoted CATFI on social media, drove the token’s price up more than 1,000-fold within 26 hours and then sold their holdings for about 400 million won ($260,000)...

Everstake said staking made up 60% of disclosed revenue among six Ethereum treasury firms, while loss-making companies posted $1.41 billion in losses. Ethereum treasury companies are under pressure to generate revenue from staking and other yield strategies as spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) weaken the appeal of public companies that simply hold Ether (ETH), according to a new Everstake report. Staking accounted for an average of 60% of reported revenue among six ETH treasury firms that separately disclosed staking-related income, the staking infrastructure provider said. Everstake reviewed 15 publicly listed companies with ETH treasury strategies and found that the firms in its sample that reported 2025 losses posted about $1.41 billion in combined net losses. Separately, BitMine Immersion Technologies reported a $9.02 billion net loss for the six months ended Feb. 28, though the figure was driven largely by unrealized losses on digital assets rather than operating losses, according to the report. R...

Stablecoins became the default settlement layer for AI agents as crypto payment rails can handle sub-dollar transactions more efficiently, says a report from Keyrock. Artificial intelligence agents settling payments have gone from concept to reality in the last 12 months, with $73 million settled across 176 million transactions from May last year through April 2026, according to crypto investment firm Keyrock. In a report released Thursday, written in collaboration with crypto exchange Coinbase and the blockchain Tempo, Keyrock researcher Ben Harvey said that “in the past 12 months, machine-to-machine payments have gone from concept to a developed ecosystem.” “Agents have settled over $73 million across 176 million transactions, and incumbents have deployed more than $8 billion in acquisitions to secure their position in what is emerging as an entirely new payment stack,” Harvey added. Read more

The SEC has reportedly delayed releasing a proposal permitting tokenized stock trading after receiving industry concerns. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly postponed its plan to allow trading of tokenized stocks after stock exchange officials raised concerns over how the plan would be implemented. Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the SEC’s “innovation exemption” for crypto-based stocks was expected to be released during the week, with SEC staffers having already reviewed a draft of the tokenized stock trading proposal. The SEC has reportedly received input from hundreds of market participants on how to best implement the rules, but it has not made a decision to change its proposal. Read more

Centralized data collection is a honeypot for hackers and organized criminals looking to target crypto holders and their families, according to Bitcoiners. About 70% of all wrench attacks, physical attacks against crypto holders and their families, carried out in an attempt to steal digital assets, occur in France, according to Bitcoin journalist Joe Nakamoto.  There have been 41 crypto-related kidnappings in France so far in 2026, Nakamoto said, or about one attack every two and a half days, he added.  He attributed the rise in wrench attacks to know-your-customer data collection, which is stored in centralized servers that were compromised in several high-profile data leaks, including the 2020 leak of hardware wallet provider Ledger’s customer data. Read more

Polymarket is reportedly seeking entry into Japan amid falling trading volumes and rising regulatory scrutiny, targeting approval by 2030. Polymarket, a global prediction market platform, is reportedly seeking entry into Japan amid growing regulatory scrutiny of the sector worldwide. The company has appointed Mike Eidlin, head of Japan at crypto firm Jupiter, to lead its local efforts and is preparing to lobby for authorization of prediction markets in the country, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Polymarket is targeting government approval in Japan by 2030, viewing the market as a major untapped opportunity. Read more

Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz reportedly told a court the SEC made it “very difficult” to complete a planned 2021 merger with BitGo. Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz appeared in court on Tuesday to face off against BitGo CEO Mike Belshe in a long-running legal fight over a failed proposed $1.2 billion merger in 2021. The planned deal was the largest-ever crypto merger at the time, set to create a massive conglomerate offering a suite of services at a time when investor interest in crypto was high. Galaxy called off the deal in August 2022 as the crypto market was reeling from the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. BitGo has asked Galaxy to pay a $100 million fee for pulling out of the deal and also hid it was being probed by US authorities, while Galaxy has claimed BitGo failed to provide financial information on time. Read more

Several SEC officials reportedly didn’t support the decision, while tokenization platform Securitize flagged risks with enabling third-party platforms to issue tokenized stocks. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly making an “innovation exemption” for blockchain-based tokenized trading of public companies, even those that don’t consent to the third-party tokens tracking their share prices. Bloomberg reported on Monday that the exemption could come as early as this week, expanding the trading of public companies beyond traditional stock exchanges to decentralized crypto platforms.  The SEC reportedly spoke with “hundreds of market participants” for feedback on how best to tailor the rules for tokenized trading and proposed that third-party tokens carry the same benefits as common stock, such as voting rights and dividends, or risk being delisted. Read more

South Korea’s FSC is reportedly reviewing Hana Bank’s $668 million Dunamu stake under “banking-commerce separation” rules that limit bank ownership tied to crypto firms. South Korea’s financial regulator is reportedly reviewing Hana Bank’s planned $668 million purchase of a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the operator of the largest domestic cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit. Local outlet iNews24 cited an unnamed Financial Services Commission official to report that regulators are examining whether Hana Bank's share purchase from Kakao Investment, rather than directly from Dunamu, falls under broader "banking-commerce separation" rules. The official said Hana’s investment would be assessed under the same standards as a direct stake in the exchange operator. Read more

Kraken has cut 150 staff due to the rising use of AI, adding to more than 5,000 layoffs across the crypto sector so far this year, Bloomberg reports. Crypto exchange Kraken has reportedly laid off some of its staff as a cost-cutting measure, which could delay its planned initial public offering in the US until next year. The company, whose corporate name is Payward, laid off about 150 workers due to efficiencies from deploying artificial intelligence across the business, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The person said AI is being used more extensively throughout Kraken, but the company is not planning further job cuts at the moment. Read more

Japan’s biggest brokerages are racing to bring crypto investment trusts to retail investors, as regulators move to formally allow crypto-holding funds by 2028. Japan’s major brokerages are preparing to bring crypto investment trusts to retail investors, with SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities already developing products in-house, while others like Nomura plan to enter the space once regulations are finalized. SBI Securities plans to sell funds developed by group company SBI Global Asset Management, with products spanning both ETFs and investment trusts focused on liquid assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to a Sunday report by Nikkei. The group intends to handle everything from product development to distribution in-house. Rakuten Securities is taking a similar approach, working with Rakuten Investment Management to build products tradeable directly through smartphone apps, the report revealed. Read more

Intesa Sanpaolo grew its crypto holdings from $100 million to $235 million in Q1 2026, making first-time moves into Ethereum and XRP while nearly exiting Solana entirely. Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, more than doubled its crypto exposure in the first quarter of 2026, with holdings climbing from approximately $100 million at the end of 2025 to around $235 million as of March 31. The growth was driven by expanded Bitcoin positions, with the bank adding to positions in both the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. It also entered Ethereum for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, and picked up a fresh stake in Ripple’s XRP via the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, worth approximately $26 million, according to a report by local crypto outlet Criptovaluta.it. Intesa also opened a new position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options, its first derivatives play in the space. The bank previously confirmed to Criptovaluta.it that its crypto positions are held for p...

The Hyperliquid decentralized exchange allows anyone who stakes 500,000 HYPE tokens, valued at roughly $22.2 million, to deploy new markets. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the two biggest exchanges for energy-linked commodities, are pressuring US regulators to clamp down on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange’s expansion into commodity markets. Executives from both companies say that Hyperliquid’s energy-linked onchain derivatives create insider trading and price manipulation risks, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the ongoing talks with US regulators. ICE and CME cited the “anonymous” and “unregulated” nature of Hyperliquid as major risks to critical energy markets, like oil and gas, which could be used by state actors to circumvent sanctions, the report added. Read more

The cybersecurity threats from North Korea are perpetrated by a myriad of small hacker groups deploying malware and executing social engineering scams. North Korea (DPRK) state-affiliated hackers and threat actors were responsible for more than $2 billion in crypto losses in 2025, a 51% year-over-year increase, despite fewer attacks carried out by the group, according to cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. DPRK hackers represent the “largest” threat group targeting cryptocurrency users, as measured by the dollar amount of assets stolen, according to the company’s 2026 Financial Services Threat Landscape report. Crowdstrike added: The DPRK hackers and scammers focused on targeting Web3 projects and cryptocurrency exchanges because the stolen funds could be “cashed out” and transferred with a greater degree of anonymity than in the traditional financial system, CrowdStrike said. Read more

Vietnam’s deputy minister of finance reportedly said the country is planning to launch its regulated cryptocurrency market in the third quarter of 2026 to answer the growing demand for digital assets. Vietnam could see the first official activity in its regulated crypto asset market as early as the third quarter of 2026, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said at the Digital Trust in Finance 2026 forum. “We believe that, as early as the third quarter, Vietnam could witness the first official activities of its crypto asset market, operating under a framework designed to ensure safety and transparency,” Chi said Tuesday, according to VnEconomy. The comments mark another step in Vietnam’s effort to bring one of Asia’s most active crypto markets under formal supervision, after regulators opened a licensing pathway for domestic crypto asset trading platforms earlier this year. Read more