News linked to both this project and an event.
21Shares has released an analysis report on the Binance hack, stating that on October 29, Binance suffered an attack of approximately $6.3 billion, of which about $3 billion in stolen assets have now been frozen, and Binance has committed to bearing all losses. Within 24 hours after the incident, Bitcoin fell slightly more than 2%, significantly lower than the roughly 26% decline Bitcoin experienced after the FTX incident in November 2022. 221Shares emphasized that this incident was a security breach affecting Binance as a single company, and that the Bitcoin network itself was not attacked. Binance stated that it will cover all losses through the SAFU fund and corporate funds. Calculated at a Bitcoin price of approximately $78,509, the 15,000 BTC held by the SAFU fund is worth about $1.18 billion, which can cover about 36% of the losses on unfrozen assets, with the remaining portion to be borne by corporate funds. The report also mentioned that Chainalysis has high confidence that the attack is linked to North Korea, but Binance and government agencies have not yet officially confirmed the attribution.In addition, 21Shares stated that the assets of its physically backed ETPs and ETFs are held in cold storage by third-party custodians such as BitGo, Coinbase Custody, Anchorage Digital, and Zodia Custody, and are not kept in exchange accounts. Therefore, they were not affected by this incident, and all of the company's products are trading normally.
According to BeInCrypto, Chainalysis data shows that over the year ending June 2026, the South African crypto economy expanded by 52% to $39.3 billion, with increases across all tracked activity categories. Commercial payments, including those from South African merchants and P2P traders, reached $8.34 billion, outpacing institutional activity ($1.29 billion in inflows); stablecoin inflows through Sub-Saharan African P2P channels totaled $14.6 billion, on par with Bitcoin. A draft regulatory framework for crypto asset management released by the South African Treasury and Reserve Bank (SARB) on August 3 would stipulate that individuals may only transfer crypto assets abroad through authorized local service providers within existing foreign exchange limits, while businesses are prohibited from cross-border transfers of crypto assets. As of March 31, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) had issued licenses to 310 crypto asset service providers, though these entities must still secure separate authorization from the SARB. On October 21, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana stated that after receiving thousands of public submissions, the Treasury will aim to release a revised second draft, with no timeline currently announced.
Odaily Report: Tether has announced the establishment of FASE (Financial Access and Systemic Empowerment Foundation), a Swiss nonprofit foundation focused on four key areas: financial security, financial inclusion, access to resources, and responsible AI and robotics technology. Founding parties include Tether, Kraken, Bybit, the Solana Foundation, Chainalysis, and Anchorage Digital, among other institutions.FASE's first batch of projects includes a partnership with youth platform Goodwall, planning to provide digital education and anti-fraud tools to up to 10 million young people, with a focus on Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia; and a pilot with Prosper Global to distribute humanitarian aid via stablecoins, initially covering up to 1 million people.In addition, FASE will collaborate with the United Nations Trust Fund to support civil society organizations in multiple African countries that provide assistance to survivors of human trafficking.
Odaily report: According to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement, law enforcement authorities in Ghana and Nigeria arrested 28 people in a joint operation targeting West African fraud networks, involving criminal activities such as cryptocurrency investment fraud. The operation was led by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), with participation from Binance, Coinbase, and blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis, Elliptic, and TRM Labs. Private-sector partners collectively identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen, though the amount has not yet been confirmed as recovered assets.Coinbase stated that it assisted in tracking illicit funds, supporting asset freezes, and providing intelligence to investigators, identifying more than 65 victims still being defrauded and helping prevent over $415,000 in potential losses. During the operation, Ghanaian police arrested 19 people and seized 303 electronic devices, while another 9 people were arrested in Nigeria. Additionally, 117 human trafficking victims in Ghana are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria, and participants also provided law enforcement with leads on more than 30 suspected fraud centers. The U.S. Department of Justice said this was the first joint operation of its kind specifically targeting the West African region. (CoinDesk)
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Chainalysis' latest report indicates that the United States became a net inflow country for bitcoin in 2026, marking the first time since 2022. The report notes that US institutional investors have continuously purchased bitcoin this year, while retail investors as a whole have predominantly sold. Chainalysis stated that since the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in 2024, the US share of global bitcoin activity has consistently risen in each statistical period. Meanwhile, the scale of the US crypto economy is approximately $2.78 trillion, down 2.2% from prior levels. In the stablecoin sector, USD stablecoins continue to expand their usage in overseas payments, peer-to-peer transactions, and cross-border business activities.
Chainalysis has released its "Crypto Tax Report: Select Country Data," estimating global crypto-related taxable activity at approximately $457 billion, covering trading gains, on-chain income, and digital payments.The report states that it uses on-chain data to map these activities by region and country, providing tax authorities with a geolocated view of potential taxable activity within their jurisdictions. Among these, stablecoin payment flows represent the largest and most globally distributed category. The report also analyzes cross-border channels and their impact on direct and indirect tax obligations, and demonstrates how on-chain intelligence can help tax authorities identify high-value, high-risk wallets to determine enforcement priorities.
Odaily reports: Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has released a report stating that hackers are increasingly leveraging open-source artificial intelligence (AI) to implant malware control instructions into on-chain transactions and smart contracts, with such cases surging approximately 440% in less than a year. Data shows that these incidents have risen from roughly 2 per day to approximately 11 per day. Attackers write malicious instructions on-chain to manipulate infected devices into stealing passwords and funds, and redirect assets to designated wallets; since on-chain records cannot be deleted, defense and interception are becoming increasingly difficult.The report notes that state-sponsored hackers from countries such as North Korea and Iran have become the primary drivers of such activity. Open-source models support local independent operation and modification, allowing them to directly bypass cloud-based defenses. However, the public and transparent nature of blockchain also leaves critical evidence for tracing attack infrastructure. (Bloomberg)
According to Reuters, Mexican police discovered a clandestine cryptocurrency mining operation in the mountainous regions of Puebla state, seizing 300 GPUs, 80 medium-voltage power terminals, and eight satellite dishes. Four similar operations have been uncovered in the area since early last year. Authorities are investigating whether the site illicitly siphoned electricity from a nearby hydroelectric plant. Security analysts noted that the technical expertise and funding required for the facility point to the involvement of well-capitalized criminal syndicates. A Chainalysis Latin America expert stated that regional drug trafficking organizations are increasingly utilizing cryptocurrency transfers and mining operations for money laundering. Data shows that globally, crypto addresses associated with criminal activity received approximately $154 billion in 2025, more than double the $59 billion recorded in the previous year.
Odaily News Crypto enterprises, asset managers, market makers, and consumer advocacy groups have submitted comments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to its request for input on the regulatory framework for "novel ETFs," covering exchange-traded products such as crypto assets, private assets, event contracts, and leveraged strategies.Crypto industry organization Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) recommended extending certain regulatory accommodations applicable to ETFs to non-ETF exchange-traded products. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) stated that the SEC should assess products based on their underlying assets and risk profiles, rather than treating all novel ETFs as a single category.Grayscale opposed adding new portfolio restrictions for mature digital asset products, while Chainalysis suggested leveraging public blockchains to enable real-time monitoring and verifiable disclosures. Kalshi expressed support for including event contracts in registered funds, whereas consumer advocacy group Public Citizen opposed offering event contract ETFs to retail investors. The SEC will evaluate whether to adopt a unified regulatory framework or craft separate rules based on product structure and risk. (Decrypt)
Odaily News, The Sandbox has released a post-mortem report on the August 22 vulnerability incident. The report shows that attackers exploited vulnerabilities in contracts related to cross-chain configurations on Base and BNB Smart Chain (BSC), stealing 14,742,341.84 SAND from the Ethereum treasury, accounting for approximately 0.5% of the maximum supply, with an estimated economic impact of approximately $1.4968 million, of which about $987,000 was actually retained by the attackers. The Ethereum mainnet and Polygon network were not affected. Until further notice, please do not purchase or send SAND on Base or BNB Smart Chain. Contracts deployed on Base and BNB Smart Chain have been permanently deactivated and will not be reopened. The Sandbox stated that the team has reported the attacker's wallet address to blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis, and has communicated directly with relevant exchanges. The Sandbox also announced a compensation plan, which will compensate wallets that legitimately held cross-chain SAND on Base or BSC prior to the incident at a 1:1 ratio in Ethereum SAND. Compensation funds will come from The Sandbox treasury, with no new tokens issued. The claim process will open within the next two weeks and remain open for two weeks.
According to The Defiant, Arbitrum officially activated the ArbOS 61 Elara upgrade on August 20, which was approved for deployment via an ArbitrumDAO governance vote. The core features of this upgrade include: introducing an optional protocol-level transaction filtering mechanism for Dedicated Chains, allowing chain owners to independently select external compliance service providers such as TRM Labs and Chainalysis to configure restricted address rules; the filter is disabled by default and does not affect existing Arbitrum One users; adding Priority Fee support, also disabled by default, with its activation on Arbitrum One still requiring a separate DAO constitutional vote; introducing the BaseFeeManager contract, which authorizes Offchain Labs to adjust the L2 minimum Gas fee within a DAO-approved range of 0.01 to 0.10 gwei over a two-year authorization period; additionally, the maximum code size limit for Stylus contracts has been increased from 24 KB to 96 KB, though this does not apply to Solidity contracts.
Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis Government Solutions filed a bid protest with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on July 27, challenging the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) award of an approximately $94.6 million blockchain forensics software and support services contract to competitor TRM Labs on a sole-source basis. The contract term is from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, for investigations related to the Homeland Security Special Operations Group.
blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis Government Solutions filed a bid protest with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on July 27, opposing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) decision to award a contract worth approximately $94.6 million to competitor TRM Labs on a sole-source basis. The contract, covering the period from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, involves blockchain forensics software and support services for Homeland Security task forces investigating fraud, cybercrime, and sextortion cases. Chainalysis argues that ICE's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. TRM Labs joined the case as an intervenor-defendant on July 28, defending the contract alongside the U.S. government. The court has allowed Chainalysis to temporarily seal its complaint, with oral arguments scheduled for September 2. ICE stated that after approximately six days of market research, it determined that none of the eight responding companies could meet the requirements. (Decrypt)
Odaily News, January 10 - A Bitcoin and Litecoin holder provided a 12-word recovery phrase to attackers impersonating Trezor support personnel, resulting in the theft of approximately $282 million in assets, including about $139 million in Bitcoin and $153 million in Litecoin. Blockchain forensics firm ZeroShadow stated that the incident stemmed from a social engineering attack, not a compromise of wallet software or private key infrastructure. The stolen funds were split via the THORChain cross-chain bridge within minutes and converted into Monero through instant exchange services. ZeroShadow's monitoring team flagged and froze approximately $700,000 in funds within 20 minutes. Under the BIP39 standard, a 12-word recovery phrase contains approximately 128 bits of entropy, while a 24-word phrase contains 256 bits of entropy. Chainalysis estimates that up to 23% of all mined Bitcoin is permanently inaccessible due to lost keys, involving millions of BTC, with causes including forgotten recovery phrases, damaged backups, and a lack of inheritance planning.
amid growing insider trading concerns surrounding prediction markets, Goldman Sachs has prohibited its employees from trading prediction market contracts related to the bank's own events, elections, financial markets, macroeconomic data, and geopolitics. Financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America are also formulating or updating relevant policies. Bank of America, in particular, has begun clarifying prohibited practices in prediction market trading to its employees.Previously, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice accused a Google employee of using non-public information to trade "Search of the Year" related contracts on Polymarket, profiting approximately $1.2 million. Legal experts note that the CFTC still lacks well-established case law in enforcing insider trading rules for prediction markets, and the wide variety of prediction market contracts further complicates regulatory oversight.Currently, Kalshi and Polymarket have respectively launched employment verification tools and collaborated with Chainalysis and Palantir to monitor suspicious trading activities. (CNBC)
According to Chainalysis, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated its sanctions list against ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan Branch) on July 1, adding 134 cryptocurrency wallet addresses, of which 131 are on the TRON chain and 3 are Monero addresses. On-chain data shows that the aforementioned TRON wallets have cumulatively received over $1.4 million since 2023 and transferred out over $880,000, with some funds flowing to Syrian crypto exchangers. Currently, Tether has frozen the balances of all 131 TRON addresses. Additionally, on the same day, OFAC also sanctioned two Brazilian individuals and four companies related to the Latin American criminal organization "Primeiro Comando da Capital" (PCC), accusing them of using cryptocurrency to transfer over $30 million in illegal proceeds across borders from the United States to Brazil.
Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis has released a new methodological proposal aimed at establishing a unified on-chain fund tracking standard framework for law enforcement agencies and investigators to identify address clusters and determine their probable control relationships.The proposal defines the on-chain analysis structure in the form of an "ontology," centralizing the systematic decomposition of the currently industry-wide non-standardized concept of "cluster" (address clustering) into wallet segments and functional roles. It describes on-chain relationships through a two-tier structure: the first layer defines the transaction graph structure, and the second layer assesses the inferred confidence level.Chainalysis states that the framework aims to enhance the interpretability and legal applicability of on-chain forensic methods and has been validated through its practical experience in cases related to the U.S. Department of Justice, including analysis applied in the Bitcoin Fog mixing service case. The company's Chief Scientist, Jacob Illum, noted that the proposal's goal is to answer "on what evidentiary basis can these addresses be considered to belong to the same entity," but emphasized that on-chain analysis alone cannot directly identify end-user identities and must still be combined with legal investigative methods involving centralized entities such as exchanges.Chainalysis stated that the standard proposal is currently open for industry discussion, aiming to promote a more unified technical standard for on-chain analysis methods in the fields of law enforcement and compliance. (CoinDesk)
According to The Block, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis’ latest report states that as the gray-market peptide industry’s scale exceeds an annualized $100 million, leading suppliers are accelerating adoption of Bitcoin and stablecoins as primary settlement instruments. In Q1 2026, cryptocurrency inflows into this industry reached $32 million—a 159% quarter-on-quarter surge. Due to widespread bans imposed by traditional banks and credit card payment channels on prescription-grade compounds and unregulated substances, numerous Chinese chemical manufacturers have turned to cryptocurrencies for transactions, with high-value orders especially favoring stablecoins to hedge against price volatility risk.
Chainalysis has released a report stating that as demand for gray market peptide products (such as weight loss drugs like semaglutide) grows rapidly, related suppliers and buyers are increasingly using cryptocurrencies for transactions, with leading suppliers primarily relying on Bitcoin and stablecoins.The report shows that crypto funds flowing into this sector reached $32 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 159% increase from $12 million in the previous quarter, with the annualized scale already exceeding $100 million.Chainalysis points out that demand for peptide products is driven by trends in medical aesthetics, health and wellness, and the popularity of GLP-1 drugs. However, since these products often involve prescription-grade compounds or unregulated substances, traditional banks and credit card processors typically restrict their transactions, prompting the market to shift towards crypto payments.The agency also noted that some leading suppliers have adopted more professional on-chain fund management methods. Particularly among suppliers with average single deposits exceeding $1,000, the proportion of stablecoins has significantly increased, likely to mitigate the risk of large supply chain orders being affected by crypto market volatility.
Chainalysis has released a report indicating that overall compliance standards in the crypto industry are improving, but significant deficiencies remain in the monitoring of indirect fund flows.The report shows that among new institutions entering the crypto industry in 2026, approximately 47% adopted alert standards that would have ranked among the strictest top 10% in the industry five years ago. Chainalysis states that while industry standards for "direct monitoring" (funds coming directly from known illicit sources) have become largely unified, gaps remain in "indirect monitoring" (funds flowing through intermediate addresses).Data indicates that in 2020, only about 10% of institutions met top-tier industry compliance requirements. However, since 2023, this proportion has significantly increased, with newcomers generally adopting stricter monitoring standards. Nevertheless, for risk categories such as ransomware, scam shops, and darknet markets, industry thresholds for indirect monitoring are still commonly 10 to 20 times higher than those for direct monitoring. (Cointelegraph)