News linked to both this project and an event.
according to Bloomberg, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning crypto asset holders that scammers are contacting some taxpayers by mailing fake letters in an attempt to steal their digital assets or personal data.The IRS stated that these letters may require taxpayers to register for a so-called "Digital Asset Compliance Portal," but this portal does not exist. The IRS also reminds users not to scan suspicious QR codes, and not to answer or comply with calls demanding payment.While phishing and digital scams are not new to the crypto industry, sending fake IRS notifications through physical mail appears to be a novel scam tactic. As the IRS has indeed sent taxpayers letters related to digital assets in the past, and the surge in crypto tax filing notices last year has led to confusion among many taxpayers, scammers may be exploiting this familiarity to disguise their attempts.As the U.S. tax system requires taxpayers to disclose their crypto asset activities on tax returns, communication between the IRS and digital asset holders has become more common. This also makes fake tax notices more deceptive. For crypto users, encountering "IRS letters" involving portal registration, QR code scanning, wallet connections, or payment demands warrants extra caution and should be verified through official channels.
According to BeInCrypto, the official verified X account of U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis was hacked on July 29. The account briefly posted a fake Solana Meme coin promotion post named $USA Token, featuring a pump.fun minting link. The post was deleted within approximately five minutes, accumulating around 5,600 views and 37 replies during that period. Crypto community users quickly issued warnings, and there are currently no records of financial losses. Lummis's office had not released any statement as of press time. The timing of this incident is sensitive, coinciding with the stalemate of the "Digital Asset Market Transparency Act" (CLARITY Act) championed by Lummis in Congress.
According to CoinDesk, Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered Bank, released a report initiating coverage of the decentralized lending protocol Aave, with a target price of $3,500 by end-2030—approximately 50 times its current price of around $70—and expects Aave to outperform both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kendrick stated that Aave has recovered from the April 2026 KelpDAO rsETH bridge vulnerability incident, during which attackers used approximately $290 million worth of stolen tokens as collateral to borrow real assets on Aave, exposing the protocol to up to $230 million in potential losses. Assets have now begun flowing back onto the platform, and Aave’s dominant position in on-chain lending remains solid. Looking ahead, Standard Chartered forecasts that the value of tokenized assets actively used in DeFi applications will grow 37-fold by 2030. Aave—whose revenue model is directly tied to lending activity—is poised to benefit directly. Additionally, Aave’s Horizon initiative (enabling tokenized real-world asset lending in permissioned environments) and the potential relaunch of its token buyback program are viewed as key catalysts.
According to GlobeNewswire, WTW, a global leader in insurance and risk management, has announced the acquisition of digital asset insurance platform Redefind to strengthen its digital asset protection services. As disclosed, Redefind provides an end-to-end platform for cryptocurrency and digital asset insurance access. WTW plans to initially launch an unhosted loss recovery insurance solution in the UK to cover related expenses—including forensic investigations, asset tracing, and legal recovery—following theft or loss of digital assets.
Governor Walz of Minnesota has signed legislation enabling state-chartered credit unions to offer digital asset custody accounts. The bill aims to allow Minnesota residents to manage their crypto assets more securely under regulatory oversight and strengthen protections against fraud, hacking, and asset loss. Minnesota Credit Unions also thanked co-sponsors Reps. Perryman and Elkins and Sen. Seeberger for advancing this legislation.
Odaily, Web3 security firm CertiK has released the "Skynet North Korean Crypto Threat Report." Data shows that since 2016, North Korean hacking groups have accumulated approximately $6.75 billion in stolen digital assets. In 2025 alone, their thefts amounted to $2.06 billion in losses, accounting for nearly 60% of the total annual losses in the global crypto industry (including the $1.5 billion Bybit hack). As of early 2026, this threat trend continues, with losses attributable to them making up about 55%.The report emphasizes that the North Korean hackers' attack patterns have fundamentally shifted, evolving from mere code vulnerability exploitation into a state-level attack system combining social engineering, deep supply chain attacks, and 'physical infiltration.' In the recent Drift protocol incident, attackers even spent six months infiltrating offline industry conferences, building trust through real financial transactions and personal interactions before launching the attack.CertiK security experts warn that in the face of such systemic attacks, purely technical defenses are proving inadequate. Crypto institutions urgently need to fully implement a 'zero-trust' hiring model, reinforce third-party supply chains, establish fund circuit breaker mechanisms, and collaborate with professional security firms to build a full lifecycle defense system covering code auditing, round-the-clock risk monitoring, and on-chain anti-money laundering/KYT (Know Your Transaction) fund tracking.