Tag: CryptoPunk

Tether and Bitfinex moved $3.9 billion in Bitcoin to Jack Mallers’ Twenty One Capital, now the third-largest corporate BTC holder after Strategy and MARA.

Tether has moved a combined 37,229.69 Bitcoin, worth about $3.9 billion, to addresses linked to the new Bitcoin-native financial platform, Twenty One Capital, led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted two transfers totaling 11,417 BTC ($1.2 billion) according to a June 3 X post.

In one transaction, the stablecoin issuer transferred 10,500 Bitcoin
BTC
$107,866
(about $1.1 billion) to an address linked to SoftBank’s investment option in Twenty One. The executive said it was part of the pre-funding of SoftBank’s investment in the Bitcoin platform.

In another post, Ardoino said Tether made a separate 917 BTC transfer to a wallet associated with convert investors holding equity rights in the venture. The coins were worth about $96 million at the time of writing.

Tether moves $3.9 billion in Bitcoin
The largest batch was moved a day earlier, when Ardoino reported three transactions totaling 25,812 BTC, worth about $2.7 billion at the time.

That included a 7,000 BTC transfer, worth more than $730 million, from Bitfinex as part of its investment into Twenty One, followed by a 14,000 BTC transfer from Tether, and 4,812.22 BTC (about $500 million) representing pre-funding for an initial equity raise.

Twenty One Capital aims to develop Bitcoin-native capital markets infrastructure, allowing products like lending, custody and asset issuance to operate directly on Bitcoin rails.

It plans to go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger with Cantor Fitzgerald’s Cantor Equity Partners, which values the company at $3.6 billion.

Twenty One is already the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world, trailing only behind Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings.

Strategy shies away from proof-of-reserves
The high-profile transactions also highlight a growing divide in the crypto industry’s approach to transparency.

At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said that posting onchain proof-of-reserves is a “bad idea” that could pose security risks.

Saylor said this dilutes the security of everyone involved, including the issuer, the custodians, the exchanges and the investors.

Despite Saylor’s commitment to privacy, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has attempted to identify the company’s wallets. On May 29, Arkham claimed it had managed to find 87% of Strategy’s Bitcoin onchain.

The SEC sued Keith Crews in 2023 alleging he ran a crypto fraud scheme, but he failed to answer the complaint, leading a judge to hand a default win to the regulator.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has been handed a $1.1 million court victory after a man it accused of running a crypto scam failed to answer the agency’s lawsuit.

A Georgia federal court judge submitted a default judgment in the SEC’s favor on June 3 in its case against Keith Crews, who failed to respond or defend himself against the SEC’s lawsuit that it filed in August 2023.

Judge Tiffany Johnson ordered Crews to pay financial penalties of over $1.1 million, finding him liable for disgorgement of $530,000 in net profits from his alleged misconduct and ordered him to pay prejudgment interest of almost $51,000 and a civil penalty of $530,000.

The judge ruled that Crews is also permanently banned from future violations of securities laws.

The SEC alleged Crews carried out a crypto fraud scheme through his companies, Four Square Biz and Stem Biotech, between October 2019 and May 2021.

The SEC claimed he raised at least $800,000 from approximately 200 investors through the sale of a “purported crypto asset security” named “Stemy Coin,” and that many of the investors were “solicited through relationships in African-American and church communities.”

The regulator accused Crews of making false claims to investors, such as the token being backed by stem cell technology and hard assets like gold, and that his company had existing labs, products, and a track record of delivering stem cell treatments.

Fake labs and partnerships
The SEC claimed Crews touted partnerships with doctors and research teams, whereas in reality, the firm had no labs, products, research, partners or stem cell technology.

“Crews and his entities had no existing stem cell technology, products, or operations, there was no partnership with the claimed entities,” the agency said in its complaint.

The complaint alleged violations of multiple federal securities laws, including Securities Act fraud provisions, Exchange Act fraud provisions and registration violations.

The judgment represents a rare crypto-related victory for the SEC, which has wound down its crypto enforcement actions under the Trump administration this year.

Kraken’s security team says that at crypto conferences, it’s seen unlocked laptops, phones left unattended and public discussions about personal wealth.

Crypto conference attendees fail at “basic situational awareness” and security measures, opening themselves up to exploitation by bad actors hiding in the crowd at events, says crypto exchange Kraken.

Kraken’s security team noted a “troubling trend” of laptops and phones owned by popular crypto protocols left unlocked and unguarded on tables at events — as “wallet notifications ping in real time,” Kraken’s security chief Nick Percoco said in a June 5 blog post.

“If you’re in crypto, your digital device is not just a phone or a laptop. It’s a vault to you, your crypto assets and your broader employer’s operation,” he said. “Always keep your devices in close proximity and locked when you are not using them.”

Percoco said basic security measures are particularly important for conferencegoers as scammers also attend crypto events, and it’s easy for them to build a cover story, register under fake personas and appear like they belong.

“Crypto, at its core, is about being your own bank. And it is incredibly difficult to achieve the promise of financial freedom if your personal security and operational security aren’t prioritized above all else,” Percoco added.

One tactic scammers use while at a conference is “juice jacking,” where malicious USB charging stations are used to install malware, steal data, or exploit a public network, according to Percoco.

He added that scammers can also easily spoof or compromise WiFi networks.

“Crypto events are full of highly technical individuals, including those with hacking skills. It only takes one bad actor to exploit an unprotected connection,” he said.

QR codes can also be dubious, and while Percoco said he has not seen any reports of it happening in the wild, but a sticker swap by a bad actor replacing a legitimate QR code on marketing material with a fake one could result in compromised wallets.

“A safer approach is to use a burner wallet with limited funds specifically for conference activities. That way, if something goes wrong, your primary holdings remain protected,” he said.

In-person crypto theft on the rise
Another issue Kraken’s security team noted is that some attendees have openly discussed their crypto gains and were careless about exposing their personal information.

“One of our team members walked out of their hotel room one evening, several miles from a conference venue, and encountered several attendees discussing high-value trades while wearing lanyards from the conference that included their name and company,” Percoco said.

“Even if you don’t think anyone’s listening, someone very well might be. Be discreet to protect yourself and those around you,” he added.

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” says DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas.

Blockchain gaming user activity dipped and funding slowed in April, but the overall ecosystem is healthier and maturing, according to blockchain analytics platform DappRadar.

User activity dropped 10% over April, with blockchain gaming reaching a 2025 low of 4.8 million daily Unique Active Wallets, DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas said in the platform’s April Games Report.

Gaming dominance over the decentralized app industry also fell and is now tied with decentralized finance at 21%.

Gherghelas said it’s clear user attention is shifting away from gaming, but under the surface, new infrastructure went live, major publishers doubled down, and high-quality games edged closer to launch.

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” she said.

“Teams are building, and capital continues to flow into the space. What we might be seeing is a healthier ecosystem — one driven less by speculative play-to-earn mechanics and more by users who have a genuine interest in gameplay, asset ownership and community.”

April’s blockchain gaming investment activity also dropped 69% from March, reaching $21 million.

Weaker projects die off, funds shift to builders
Gherghelas said part of the drop is because investor and user interest is increasingly shifting toward real-world assets and artificial intelligence.

Another factor is the macroeconomic landscape, with ongoing market uncertainty weighing on investor sentiment, making capital harder to secure for startups.

Gherghelas said weaker projects “are falling away,” and funds are flowing into other projects that “are quietly laying the groundwork for the next generation of blockchain games.”

“The blockchain gaming industry isn’t dead — it’s evolving. It’s moving from noise to signal,” she said.

“Teams are building, and capital continues to flow into the space. What we might be seeing is a healthier ecosystem — one driven less by speculative play-to-earn mechanics and more by users who have a genuine interest in gameplay, asset ownership and community.”

April’s blockchain gaming investment activity also dropped 69% from March, reaching $21 million.

Weaker projects die off, funds shift to builders
Gherghelas said part of the drop is because investor and user interest is increasingly shifting toward real-world assets and artificial intelligence.

Another factor is the macroeconomic landscape, with ongoing market uncertainty weighing on investor sentiment, making capital harder to secure for startups.

Gherghelas said weaker projects “are falling away,” and funds are flowing into other projects that “are quietly laying the groundwork for the next generation of blockchain games.”

Mainstream gaming companies are also still experimenting with blockchain-powered games, with Gherghelas pointing to Ubisoft’s partnership with Immutable,

and Sega adding non-fungible tokens and play-to-earn mechanics to its game, KAI: Battle of Three Kingdoms, as prime examples.

“April 2025 wasn’t a record-breaking month for blockchain gaming, and that’s okay. What we’re seeing is a space recalibrating,” she said.

“Speculative hype is cooling down, but the builders haven’t stopped,” she added. ”Games are launching. Ecosystems are expanding. Infrastructure is maturing.”

Bitget Wallet’s latest report found that 37% see security concerns as the biggest obstacle to crypto payment adoption.

Security concerns remain the biggest obstacle to the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency payments, as hacks and phishing scams continue to damage the industry’s legitimacy.

More than 37% of investors identified security risks as the main barrier to using cryptocurrency for payments,

according to a survey of 4,599 users conducted by Bitget Wallet as part of its latest Onchain Report shared with Cointelegraph.

Still, 46% of users said they preferred crypto payments over fiat for their speed and efficiency.

Bitget Wallet has implemented multi-layered protection mechanisms to make security a “top priority” and inspire more confidence in crypto payments, according to Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet:

“This includes MEV protection, which is now enabled by default across major chains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, helping users avoid common risks like front-running and sandwich attacks. “

“We also introduced smart authorization detection via our GetShield engine, which actively scans smart contracts, DApps, and URLs to flag malicious behavior before users sign anything,” he told Cointelegraph.

Bitget Wallet’s operations are backed by a $300 million user protection fund as an additional layer of assurance in case of an “asset loss due to platform-level issues.”

Security concerns have plagued the industry, especially since the emergence of a new type of phishing attack known as address poisoning or wallet poisoning scams, which involve tricking victims into sending their digital assets to fraudulent addresses belonging to scammers.

Victims of address poisoning scams were tricked into willingly sending over $1.2 million worth of funds to scammers in the first three weeks of March.

While Gen X users cite security as their top concern, Gen Z users prioritize usability and cost-efficiency, Kan said.

Africa and Southeast Asia lead in crypto payment adoption
Bitget Wallet’s report found that 52% of African respondents and 51% of Southeast Asian respondents showed interest in crypto payments, driven by high remittance costs and limited banking access.

To help the world’s unbanked regions, Bitget Wallet offers simplified onboarding with non-custodial wallets that don’t require a traditional bank account, Kan said, adding:

“With support for over 130 blockchains and stablecoins, users can easily send and receive value globally, using assets that maintain purchasing power.”

“Local fiat on-ramps and multichain support ensure that users can tap into crypto without needing deep technical knowledge or centralized platforms,” he added.

In Latin America, high transaction costs associated with traditional wire transfers are the main factor driving users to adopt crypto payments, Kan said.

Such remittance fees averaged 7.34% during 2024 if they involved bank account transfers, according to Statista.