Crypto Scam Targets Stranded Ships in Strait of Hormuz: Report

Fraudulent actors posing as Iranian authorities have reportedly sent messages to shipping companies whose vessels remain stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding payment in cryptocurrency for safe passage. On Monday, maritime risk company Marisks issued a warning saying unknown groups had contacted shipowners claiming to represent Iranian security services and requesting transit “fees” in Bitcoin (BTC) or USDt (USDT) in exchange for clearance through the strait, according to Reuters. “These specific messages are a scam,” Marisks reportedly said, adding that they do not originate from Iranian authorities. Tehran…

Strategy Overtakes BlackRock’s Bitcoin Holdings, But Is Saylor Done Buying?

Michael Saylor announced on Monday that Strategy had carried out another massive Bitcoin buy. The multi-billion-dollar Bitcoin purchase did not come as a surprise to the market, given that the company had already been raising more money to buy BTC leading up to the day. However, what is interesting is how much BTC the public company now holds and what it means in comparison to other counterparts with large holdings in the market. Strategy’s BTC Holdings Have Now Crossed 800,000 BTC With the most recent buy, where the company bought…

Philippine SEC Warns Against dYdX, Crypto Platforms

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a public investor alert warning Filipinos not to invest in dYdX and six other crypto trading platforms, saying they are not registered or authorized to solicit investments in the country. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the SEC named dYdX, Aevo, gTrade, Pacifica, Orderly, Deriv and Ostium, stating that based on its findings, the platforms appear to be offering investments to the public in exchange for promised returns, profits or interest.  The regulator said none of the listed entities are registered…

European Banks Back MiCA Euro Stablecoin to Rival Dollar Tokens

A consortium of 12 European banks led by Qivalis has selected digital asset custody provider Fireblocks to provide infrastructure for a Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA)-compliant euro stablecoin, according to a Tuesday release shared with Cointelegraph.  Qivalis’s stablecoin is intended to support institutional use cases such as settlement, treasury and tokenized assets. Fireblocks said it will provide tokenization technology, wallet infrastructure, custody, and other important tools and features to support compliance, such as identity verification and sanctions screening. The group says it is targeting a launch in the second…

LayerZero Under Fire For KelpDAO $290M Exploit Response

LayerZero is facing heavy criticism for its response to the recent $290 million KelpDAO exploit after the omnichain interoperability protocol blamed Kelp’s 1-of-1 verifier configuration for the incident. Related Reading LayerZero Blames KelpDAO For $290M Exploit Over the weekend, liquid restaking protocol KelpDAO was the victim of an attack that drained over $290 million in rsETH from the project after malicious actors exploited a weakness in the protocol’s LayerZero-powered bridge. Two days later, LayerZero addressed the incident, which became the largest DeFi hack of 2026, just weeks after Drift Protocol’s…

AAVE Price Plummets By 26%: $9 Billion Net Outflows Traced To Kelp DAO Hack

A $292 million hack tied to restaking protocol Kelp DAO has rippled through decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and market confidence far beyond the original incident, with Aave emerging as one of the hardest-hit examples.  Over the weekend, Aave’s native token (AAVE) fell by about 26%, while the protocol also saw a sharp decline in total value locked (TVL) and continued outflows that intensified the downturn. Kelp DAO Hack Sparks Aave Crisis The chain of events began with the attacker draining roughly 116,500 rsETH—valued at about $292 million—from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero…

Fake Police Raid Scam Forces Victim to Send $1M in Bitcoin

Key takeaways Crypto security is expanding beyond digital threats, with criminals increasingly targeting individuals directly through physical coercion rather than trying to exploit blockchain vulnerabilities or hack wallets. The French case illustrates how attackers used a fake police raid and violence to force a Bitcoin transfer worth $1 million, bypassing encryption entirely by compelling the victim to authorize the transaction. Wrench attacks are rising, with criminals using threats or force instead of technical exploits. This highlights how human vulnerability can override even the most secure cryptographic systems. Impersonating authority figures…

Arbitrum Freezes 30K ETH Tied to Kelp Hack

Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum on Monday froze more than 30,000 Ether worth about $71.2 million held in a wallet connected to the recent exploit of the Kelp protocol. Arbitrum said on Monday that its security council, a 12-member body elected by the Arbitrum community, took “emergency action” to freeze 30,766 Ether (ETH) that was held in a wallet connected to the Kelp exploit. It added that the ETH had been moved to “an intermediary frozen wallet” and was “no longer accessible to the address that originally held the funds, and…

Bitcoin Rally May Be A Trap As Whales Sell Into Strength

Bitcoin’s rebound from the February 6 low at $60,000 is showing early signs of structural improvement, but the move still looks more like a bear market rally than a confirmed breakout, according to CryptoQuant analyst Maartun. In an April 20 video, the analyst argued that while long-term holders are accumulating and strategic capital is entering the market, persistent selling from short-term holders and whales is still capping upside. Maartun framed the current setup as a question of market character rather than raw price performance. Bitcoin is trading around $75,000, roughly…

$1.4 Billion Pours Into Crypto — What’s Driving The Surge?

They say journalists never truly clock out. But for Christian, that’s not just a metaphor, it’s a lifestyle. By day, he navigates the ever-shifting tides of the cryptocurrency market, wielding words like a seasoned editor and crafting articles that decipher the jargon for the masses. When the PC goes on hibernate mode, however, his pursuits take a more mechanical (and sometimes philosophical) turn. Christian’s journey with the written word began long before the age of Bitcoin. In the hallowed halls of academia, he honed his craft as a feature writer…