nvo

According to CoinDesk, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced that it has transferred over $8.3 million worth of USDT to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the country's asset recovery agency ARMA (National Agency for the Search, Tracking, and Management of Assets). This marks the first successful inclusion of seized cryptocurrency assets into national management in Ukraine's history.The transfer was made based on a court order and stems from an investigation by the National Bureau into an international hacker organization. The funds involved came from a wallet belonging to a member of this organization, which has been accused of attacking individuals and businesses in Europe and the United States to steal data and extort money. The proceeds were laundered in Ukraine through high-value assets such as real estate and vehicles. Currently, four suspects have been detained but have not yet been sentenced, with estimated losses exceeding $100 million.The report notes that the funds are currently only held in custody and have not been formally confiscated, as confiscation requires a court ruling. At this time, Ukraine is considering establishing a strategic reserve for cryptocurrency, similar to previous ideas from the United States. The reserve funds would come from confiscated cryptocurrency assets in criminal and civil cases, rather than being purchased on the open market.

According to the latest disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Musk has obtained antitrust approval for the acquisition of the optical network startup Mesh Optical Technologies, which means the FTC has completed a rapid antitrust review and will not challenge the transaction on competitive grounds, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for the advancement of the deal. However, it has not yet been disclosed whether the transaction has been signed or completed.Mesh was founded by former SpaceX engineers, and its core product is optical transceivers for AI data centers, which can improve energy efficiency, reduce latency, and enhance reliability compared to traditional network hardware, in order to meet the demand for millions of optical connections brought about by the growth of AI computing clusters. The founding team was involved in the development of the laser communication system for SpaceX's Starlink satellite network and plans to deploy optical communication technology into space in the future, adapting to the inter-satellite laser communication needs of orbital data centers and AI satellite networks. The company completed over $50 million in financing led by Thrive Capital in February of this year.Acquiring Mesh is one of SpaceX's initiatives to strengthen the competitiveness of large-scale computing clusters. Currently, SpaceX has listed AI computing power as a core business segment, and its xAI has been operating a total of approximately 1GW computing power with the Colossus and Colossus II training clusters, making it the first company to deploy coherent gigawatt-level AI training clusters; among them, Colossus II will add over 400MW of computing power and introduce over 220,000 GB300 chips. It has signed computing power cooperation agreements with Anthropic, Google, Reflection AI, and others, directly competing with large-scale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. This year, SpaceX has also reached a Terafab chip manufacturing plan with Tesla and Intel, extending its vertical integration capabilities in chip design and manufacturing.In the past week, SpaceX's stock price ended its upward trend, closing at $153.23 per share, down over 32% from its peak of $225.64 per share.

Coinbase officially stated that it is cooperating with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in New York, assisting in the investigation of a long-term impersonation fraud case targeting platform users and supporting victims in recovering funds.According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, a Brooklyn man has been charged with long-term impersonation of Coinbase customer service, using social engineering techniques to mislead users into believing their accounts were compromised and requesting them to transfer funds to a "secure wallet," subsequently transferring and stealing the funds. The case involves approximately 100 victims, with the amount in question nearing $16 million, and over $600,000 has been recovered so far.Coinbase stated that such scams do not stem from platform security vulnerabilities but are social engineering attacks that exploit user trust and urgency, with common tactics including identity forgery, impersonating customer service, and creating account risk panic. The company claims to have cooperated with law enforcement to complete various investigative tasks, including identifying suspects, assisting victims in notifications, providing legal request data support, and on-chain fund tracking, emphasizing that blockchain traceability helps law enforcement track the flow of funds.Coinbase also reminds users that the platform will never ask users to transfer funds to a "secure wallet," nor will it request 2FA verification codes, recovery phrases, or password reset links, and advises users to contact customer service only through official in-app channels. The company will continue to strengthen anti-fraud mechanisms, user education, and cooperation with law enforcement to address the increasingly complex cryptocurrency asset fraud.

According to BTCtreasuries, the law firm Rosen Law Firm announced an investigation into Michael Saylor's company Strategy (MSTR) and STRC, involving potential securities law claims.According to the law firm, Strategy "may have released significantly misleading business information to the investing public," and is therefore assessing related investor losses and potential legal liabilities.

According to the New Straits Times, Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for Chinese businessman Wang Yicheng, accusing him of being involved in a transnational network that uses illegal cryptocurrency mining to launder money from fraud and online gambling. The Thai Special Investigation Bureau stated that Wang Yicheng was charged with theft and violating the Computer Crimes Act in November 2025, and is currently suspected of having fled the country. Thai authorities are cooperating with international law enforcement agencies to track his whereabouts.

According to The Wall Street Journal, blockchain public chain data analysis shows that Iranian entities have completed over $3.84 billion in transactions through the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx to evade U.S. economic sanctions.Investigators have traced funds associated with two digital wallets controlled by the Central Bank of Iran, which are linked to the $1.5 billion stolen by North Korean hackers from the Bybit exchange. After flowing through a complex multi-layer transaction path, the related funds ultimately entered CoinEx, making it one of the core channels for Iran to bypass the sanctions system using cryptocurrency.

According to Decrypt, the Thai Special Investigations Department (DSI) has expanded its investigation into the "gray Chinese capital" network. This network is suspected of using illegal cryptocurrency mining to launder money from phone scams and online gambling, with an annual amount involved exceeding 30 billion Thai Baht (approximately 300 million USD). Currently, authorities have seized 6,390 mining machines, with illegal electricity theft losses reaching 953 million Thai Baht (approximately 29 million USD), and arrest warrants have been issued for 4 Chinese financiers and 4 Myanmar nationals.The U.S. Secret Service has seized over 17.8 million USD in cryptocurrency assets related to key suspect Wang Yicheng, who is alleged to be connected to "pig butchering" scam operations. Additionally, the investigation also involves several officials from Thai electricity agencies and law enforcement personnel, and the case has been handed over to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for handling.

According to HK01, the Hong Kong police have cracked a cross-border money laundering case. The involved group used 43 Hong Kong bank accounts to process funds from 34 fraud cases between June and September 2024, amounting to approximately HKD 18 million, and is suspected of laundering up to HKD 230 million in criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency transactions via bank accounts.The police investigation found that a 34-year-old woman from mainland China is suspected of coming to Hong Kong to set up multiple puppet bank accounts, assisting the criminal group in laundering approximately HKD 9.29 million in criminal proceeds, and purchasing cryptocurrency through virtual asset exchange shops to disguise the source and flow of funds. The woman was sentenced to 47.5 months in prison.The Hong Kong police remind that assisting a criminal group in handling funds could face up to 10 years in prison, and those involved in money laundering could face fines of up to HKD 5 million and imprisonment for up to 14 years.

According to an article published by the People's Bank of China on its official account, Vice Governor Xuan Changneng stated that the high-quality development of China's anti-money laundering work has entered a new stage, with significant results in combating money laundering and related illegal crimes. By 2025, the number of cases sentenced nationwide for money laundering under Article 191 of the Criminal Law is expected to exceed 2,000. Since 2022, efforts have been strengthened to combat professional money laundering, virtual currency money laundering, and cross-border money laundering activities, improving the quality and efficiency of investigations, prosecutions, and judgments of money laundering crimes.

According to Digital Asset, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea proposed at the FATF plenary meeting to expand the applicability of the virtual asset Travel Rule to small transactions and suggested implementing transaction restrictions on high-risk unregistered virtual asset service providers.The South Korean delegation emphasized that as the money laundering risks associated with cross-border digital asset transactions increase, member countries should apply the Travel Rule to both sending and receiving VASPs and expand its applicability to small transactions. In response to the increasing cases of criminal organizations utilizing overseas and unregistered VASPs, South Korea recommended strengthening customer identification obligations and considering transaction restrictions on high-risk unregistered VASPs.The FIU had previously advanced similar regulatory measures in the amendment to the enforcement decree of the Specific Financial Information Act, which is planned to be implemented in August, expanding the applicability of the Travel Rule from transactions over 1 million won to those under 1 million won.

The Hong Kong Police Force's Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Association of Banks, jointly held an "Anti-Money Laundering Exhibition." Hong Kong Police Commissioner Raymond Siu disclosed data stating that in the first quarter of this year, Hong Kong recorded over 9,400 fraud cases, a decrease of about 60 cases compared to the same period last year, but the amount of losses exceeded HKD 1.85 billion, an increase of nearly HKD 300 million compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of this year, about 2,000 people were arrested for fraud and money laundering-related cases, with approximately 70% being "puppet account" holders.The Hong Kong police remind that under the law, a conviction for money laundering can result in a maximum fine of HKD 5 million and imprisonment for 14 years, and the court may apply for an increased sentence depending on the circumstances.

According to a report by Kyodo News, the Osaka Prefectural Police arrested three men on suspicion of violating the Organized Crime Punishment Law for laundering criminal proceeds on behalf of an investment fraud gang. It is said that these three individuals exchanged approximately 14 million yen from 10 victims across six prefectures into stablecoins and other cryptocurrency assets to conceal the source of the funds.According to the Osaka Prefectural Police, these three individuals belong to "over-the-counter traders" who conduct personal cryptocurrency transactions without using trading platforms and are believed to have participated in money laundering activities amounting to billions of yen.

According to Decrypt, two brothers from Texas, Isiah Garcia and Raymond Garcia, recently pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis, admitting to a home invasion at a residence in Grant, Minnesota, in September 2025, where they held a family hostage for 8 hours and forced the homeowner to transfer over $8 million in cryptocurrency. During this time, the suspects also escorted the victims to their northern cabin to retrieve additional cold wallets for further transfers. After the victim's son reported to the police, the FBI tracked the suspects to the Houston area through evidence left at the scene and arrested them. Both face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and have agreed to pay over $8 million in restitution.

According to SlowMist's YuXian monitoring, Aztec is suspected to have been hacked again, with its Private Rollup Bridge 0x737...A2ba showing three suspicious transactions, totaling approximately $2.15 million, involving 1,158 ETH, 150,000 DAI, and 0.46963295 renBTC.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Rodney "Bitcoin Rodney" Burton, a resident of Miami, Florida, has pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting to participating in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme related to HyperFund, with an amount involved of approximately $1.8 billion.The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the project raised funds from investors through global financing and was used during its operation to promote fund transfers, constituting a large-scale cross-border telecommunications fraud network. Burton faces a maximum of 5 years in federal prison, with sentencing hearings scheduled for July 23. Law enforcement agencies indicated that the case is being jointly investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

DeFi structured protocol Thetanuts Finance issued a statement in response to the security incident involving its Vault. Preliminary investigations indicate that the relevant Vault is an old version contract that was deprecated and migrated years ago, and it is not associated with any currently running contracts or products. Further details are still under investigation, and a complete post-incident analysis report will be released once more information is available.Earlier reports suggested that Thetanuts Finance may have suffered an attack, with preliminary estimates of losses around $2.1 million.

The Hebei High Court released typical cases of cracking down on illegal fundraising. A certain man packaged an investment project with the concept of "metaverse" to promote the virtual goods investment project of the "Newmateworks" platform under the "Yishang United Community" to the public, inducing the masses to participate in the investment. He directly introduced 19 investors who invested a total of 15.3936 million yuan in the platform, of which 1.1014 million yuan has been returned, while 14.2922 million yuan has not been returned. The court found that this case used emerging technology concepts such as "metaverse" as a cover to implement fraudulent marketing, violating national financial management laws and regulations, with a huge amount involved. The behavior constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, and Chen was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.

According to The Block, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Seoul Police Agency in South Korea has arrested 23 suspects accused of laundering money for a Cambodian criminal organization, with the amount involved approximately 16.8 billion won (about 11.1 million USD). The gang transferred about 11.1 million USD in illegal funds by purchasing USDT and trading on domestic and international cryptocurrency exchanges from February 2024 to April 2025, using approximately 11,300 accounts for money laundering, involving about 265 cases of phishing and investment fraud, with the amount of illicit funds involved around 17 million USD. The Seoul police have seized approximately 650 million won (about 430,000 USD) in criminal proceeds from the suspects, but the gang leader is still at large and has been issued a red notice by Interpol.The police also arrested 33 individuals on the same charges for illegally providing currency exchange services to tourists and acquaintances through USDT.

DeFi structured protocol Thetanuts Finance issued a statement in response to the security incident involving its Vault. Preliminary investigations indicate that the related Vault is an old version of the contract that was deprecated and migrated years ago, and it is not associated with any currently running contracts or products. Further details are still under investigation, and a complete post-incident analysis report will be released once more information is obtained.Previously, it was reported that Thetanuts Finance allegedly suffered an attack, with preliminary estimates of losses around 2.1 million USD.