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Justin Drake posted on the X platform that Ethereum L1 will no longer use the SNARK-friendly hash function Poseidon, which has dominated since 2019, and will instead turn to traditional hash functions such as SHA2 or BLAKE2s.This adjustment is based on advancements in the field of SNARK design, shifting the focus from "SNARK-friendly hashing" to "hash-friendly SNARK." By aligning Boolean operations in traditional hashing with binary field native, the proof performance of traditional hashing in SNARK has reached 1 million per second, with an overhead of about 100 times.Research from Binius and Flock has driven relevant progress. The Ethereum Foundation's post-quantum team is advancing this route, with a roadmap that includes deploying production-level leanVM in 2027, and deploying in the consensus layer, execution layer, and data processing layer in 2028.Justin Drake also stated that the enhanced capabilities of AI in cryptanalysis have recently led to setbacks for the lattice-based scheme HAWK and the homomorphic scheme SQIsign, with hash-based schemes being used for post-quantum signatures on the blockchain. The trend of open-source automated research is also accelerating, with SNARK.fast achieving 1.8 million BLAKE3 proofs per second.

According to GoPlus monitoring, a user on the Base chain lost 500,000 USDC due to a phishing attack. When the attacker exchanged the stolen funds for WETH, the script did not set slippage protection, routing to a Uniswap V4 WETH/USDC pool with almost no liquidity, resulting in only 67.9 ETH (worth $129,000) being exchanged for 500,000 USDC, of which $370,000 was earned by an MEV bot.The MEV bot only paid 0.03 USDC to front-run the transaction but incurred 3.5 ETH in gas fees for this. Subsequently, the victim sent an on-chain message to the attacker and the MEV address, stating that they had identified the attacker and were willing to pay a 10% bounty for a refund.

The Korean National Police Agency has selected Upbit's parent company, Dunamu, through public bidding to be responsible for the custody of seized virtual assets, with a contract period of 1 year.The confiscated digital assets will be managed through the digital asset custody service Upbit Custody, responding in real-time to regulatory infrastructure and conducting custody and management within 365 days. This service employs 100% offline cold wallets, 24/7 monitoring, and introduces MPC, DKG multi-key management, and multi-signature technology to ensure asset isolation and security.

According to Gate's latest weekly report, the Federal Reserve maintained interest rates, but hawkish expectations have risen. The high interest rate environment combined with the deleveraging effects of derivatives has put overall pressure on the crypto market, with BTC and ETH dropping approximately 2.8% and 3.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks continued to recover last week. In terms of capital flow, BTC spot ETFs have turned to net outflows, while ETH spot ETFs still maintain a slight net inflow, showing some resilience in institutional capital allocation.On-chain, PancakeSwap's weekly trading volume surpassed Uniswap, and the Robinhood Chain, RWA, and Meme ecosystems remain active. In the derivatives market, BTC open interest (OI) rose and then fell, with funding rates remaining positive, and DVOL continuing to decline, while the market overall still maintains high-level fluctuations.In response to the evolving macro policies, institutional capital flows, and on-chain ecosystems, Gate is continuously building a multi-asset trading system covering digital assets, stocks, indices, foreign exchange, and commodities. Relying on institutional-level trading, liquidity, custody, lending, asset management, and API services, it provides professional investors with a one-stop institutional solution.At the same time, Gate is continuously improving its global institutional ecosystem layout, strengthening trading execution efficiency, cross-market liquidity, and risk management capabilities, helping institutional clients respond more efficiently to market fluctuations and seize global asset allocation and structural trading opportunities.

According to Livecoins, Brazilian police discovered a hidden illegal Bitcoin mining operation at a recycling station during a routine inspection targeting the theft and sale of scrap metal. Approximately 15 ASIC miners and 3 servers were seized on-site, with the total value of the equipment estimated to exceed 200,000 reais (about 39,400 USD).Bitcoin mining is not illegal in Brazil itself, but these devices were illegally tapping into electricity, with local power company Cemig estimating a monthly loss of about 60,000 reais (about 11,800 USD). A 37-year-old employee of the recycling station was unable to explain the source of the equipment and did not provide an invoice, leading to his arrest on charges of theft and trafficking. The police have also filed cases against a 31-year-old man and woman responsible for the business.The police stated that they are currently investigating the flow of the mined cryptocurrency.

According to the New Straits Times, Malaysian police recently dismantled an illegal Bitcoin mining operation located in Tronoh, arresting two men aged 40 and 52, and confiscating 73 cryptocurrency mining devices and related equipment.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform stating that a lawsuit accuses BitMEX of seizing 622 bitcoins through server freezes and internal trading before its closure.

According to Jinshi reports, the Korea Customs Service stated on Monday that it seized illegal foreign exchange transactions worth 72 trillion won (approximately 4.92 billion USD) in the first half of the year. The service reported that from January to June this year, a total of 792 cases of illegal foreign exchange transactions were detected, involving illegal transfers of foreign exchange abroad, concealment of overseas assets, and other illegal activities. Some cases involved export companies receiving export payments in cryptocurrencies instead of legal currencies like the US dollar.Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook stated that they will strengthen cooperation with relevant departments such as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to address the risks posed by fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.

According to Decrypt, the U.S. Department of Justice's District of Columbia Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Secret Service, has filed five civil forfeiture lawsuits in court regarding investment fraud and "pig butchering" scams, seizing over $25 million in cryptocurrency assets, with victims spread across the U.S. and Canada.The largest case involves approximately $12.1 million, with over 200 victims; the amount marked by Canada is about $10.4 million, involving over 270 suspicious transactions; the remaining three cases range from $285,000 to $2.4 million, one of which involves scammers posing as "fund recovery intermediaries" to carry out secondary fraud. Investigations show that money launderers are primarily located in Southeast Asia, with involved IP addresses coming from China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. This operation is part of the "Fraud Center Task Force" established in November 2025, which has cumulatively recovered over $800 million, and the five cases are still under ongoing investigation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office, announced that an investigation into multiple international cyber fraud cases has led to the seizure of over $25 million in cryptocurrency, with the funds suspected to be linked to cryptocurrency investment scams targeting residents of the United States and Canada. This operation is part of the U.S. "Scam Center Strike Force," initiated in 2025 by D.C. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, which has so far recovered assets totaling over $800 million.U.S. prosecutors stated that on July 21, 2026, the D.C. Attorney's Office submitted five civil forfeiture complaints to the U.S. District Court, seeking to confiscate over $25 million in crypto assets recovered from various fraud investigations. Investigators indicated that these cases involve multiple money laundering networks, with victims spread across the globe. Criminal groups lure victims into investing through fake cryptocurrency investment platforms, online romance scams, and other methods, and conceal the source of funds through multi-layered wallet addresses and coin mixing operations.The seized funds are related to five major investigations: in one case, Canadian law enforcement provided the U.S. Secret Service with wallet addresses suspected of transferring illegal proceeds. Investigators froze the relevant addresses and tracked over 270 suspected victim transactions, involving approximately $10.4 million; the second case involves an online romance scam where over 200 victims were defrauded, with illegal funds transferred through hundreds of intermediary wallet addresses, mixing with other victims' funds, totaling about $12.08 million; the third case involves a victim in the Washington D.C. area who participated in a fake cryptocurrency investment project and lost contact with the scammers after a failed withdrawal, with related funds amounting to about $1.23 million; in the fourth case, a victim transferred millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to a fake investment account, and investigators traced part of the funds to six wallet addresses, freezing approximately $2.39 million; in the fifth case, scammers impersonated a "fund recovery" agency, tricking victims into paying fees, with the amount involved being about $285,000. The U.S. Secret Service stated that these cases are still under ongoing investigation, and law enforcement is tracking the suspects behind the fraud networks and will collaborate with international law enforcement agencies to hold them accountable.

According to Digital Asset, officials from the Korean National Tax Service have proposed legislative suggestions, believing it is necessary to amend the Criminal Procedure Act to allow for the seizure of virtual assets held by individuals. Individual ownership of digital assets refers to the situation where the private key is directly held by the individual, without the need to entrust a third party for custody or disposal.In June of this year, four individuals, including Zhang Xiyuan, the head of the National Tax Service investigation team, published a paper titled "Limitations and Legislative Review of Self-Protecting Virtual Asset Seizure Execution" in the journal "Criminal Policy Research" of the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice. The paper explains that separate regulations must be established for the requirements and procedures for transferring to a public wallet or obtaining control. The paper first points out that when a suspect or owner holds access means such as a private key, the search warrant must clearly specify the following: the type and quantity of digital assets to be seized; verified addresses; addresses to be transferred; methods of transfer; and storage methods after the transfer. Furthermore, due to the risks of theft associated with transferring assets to wallets managed by a single entity, the paper proposes a method for transferring to a joint address managed by both the court and investigative agencies.

According to Magzter, the Indian Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at 19 locations from July 10 to 11 in a money laundering investigation involving online investment fraud and "work from home" scams, including 16 locations in Tamil Nadu, 2 in Kerala, and 1 in Srinagar.During the operation, approximately 335 million rupees in cryptocurrency, 145,000 rupees in cash were seized, and over 400,000 rupees in bank accounts were frozen, while documents, electronic devices, and bank records were confiscated.

According to the Iranian Fars News Agency, the Tehran Power Distribution Company stated that 187 illegal cryptocurrency mining devices were seized in two industrial units in Khorasan and Shahriar.

A fraud review commissioned by the UK government suggests that the Judicial College should provide training for all judges and magistrates in England and Wales to address the increasing cases involving AI fraud and the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering. The report states that the overall Fraud Act 2006 can be used to handle AI fraud, but the issue lies in the courts' lack of preparedness to hear related cases.The report recommends evaluating whether the existing "long and complex trials" course should be updated or replaced with specialized modules on fraud and related crimes, and considers mandatory training for judges who may hear complex fraud cases. The report claims that fraud could soon account for half of all crime in England and Wales, with an estimated 4.1 million cases occurring within a year by June 2025, affecting 1 in every 14 adults and 1 in every 4 businesses. The Financial Ombudsman Service estimates that currently over half of investment scams involve crypto assets.The report also mentions the case of Qian Zhimin, who operated a Ponzi scheme in China, defrauding over 128,000 victims of approximately £5 billion and laundering the proceeds into Bitcoin. This case resulted in the largest confirmed Bitcoin seizure in UK history, exceeding 61,000 BTC, and Qian Zhimin was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison at Southwark Crown Court in November.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, the U.S. government has emptied another wallet holding assets seized from Alameda Research and FTX, distributing the assets to 8 new addresses. The transferred assets include 4,110 AXS, worth $4,100; 5.37 YFI, worth $11,400; 1,230 COMP, worth $21,100; 316,000 MANA, worth $21,800; 0.533 WBTC, worth $34,400; 4,050 NMR, worth $39,900; 138,950 RLC, worth $40,700; and 209.18 ETH, worth $391,000.The current balance of the original wallet is $0.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, the U.S. government will transfer the seized assets related to the Bitfinex hacker case.Data shows that approximately 296,700 Tether USDt (USDT) worth of funds have been transferred from the government-controlled wallet to a Coinbase Prime address, and the market speculates that these funds may be used for over-the-counter (OTC) sales.

According to Decrypt, the on-chain tracking platform Arkham shows that the U.S. government transferred a total value of $288.33 million in seized BTC and ETH to Coinbase Prime on Monday, including approximately 3,800 BTC worth $235 million and about 30,000 ETH worth $53 million. The related assets come from criminal cases involving Brian Krewson, BTC-e, and Ryan Farace.Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey, stated that Coinbase Prime is the custodian for the U.S. government, and it is currently unclear whether the transfer is for the purpose of sale or merely for the consolidation and custody of seized assets.Arkham tracking indicates that the U.S. government wallet still holds $20.6 billion in crypto assets, including 324,552 BTC.

The digital asset trading platform Gate announced that it will open the second phase of the Pre-IPOs project for OpenAI (OPENAI) from July 15, 2026, 15:00 to July 17, 15:00 (UTC+8), supporting participation in both USDT and GUSD. The total subscription value of the project is approximately 20 million USD, issuing 27,700 OPENAI asset certificates, priced at 1 OPENAI = 722 USD, with a minimum investment starting at 100 USDT or 100 GUSD, and waiving implied fees and custody costs. OpenAI, driven by products like ChatGPT, has promoted the development of generative AI and has received investments from Microsoft and others, with a market implied valuation of approximately 895 billion USD.The OPENAI asset certificates are mirror notes prior to the OpenAI IPO, used to map the company's value before and after going public; Gate will hedge exposure by acquiring relevant stocks and provide pre-market trading, long-term holding, and future paths for exchanging stock assets, stock tokens, or USDT. Distribution is calculated based on the "average locked amount per hour," with earlier participation and longer lock-up periods receiving higher weights; the certificates will unlock in three phases on July 17, August 17, and September 17, and pre-market trading will open on July 20.

According to Gate market data, today in the Hong Kong stock market, the chip design stock Guo Wei Holdings reached an intraday increase of 66.66%; Paig Bio-pharmaceuticals-B rose by 41.04%; and Zhaogangwang-W increased by 29.54%. Popular sectors such as chip design, industrial internet, and innovative drugs are performing actively, and market attention continues to heat up.

According to DigitalAsset, Upbit operator Dunamu has been selected as the first priority candidate for the "Management of Seized Digital Asset Custody Business" by the Korean National Police Agency. According to data from the Korean government procurement portal (KONEPS), Dunamu ranked first with a comprehensive score of 94.73 (technical score 84.73, bid price score 10), surpassing the Korea Digital Asset Custody Company (KDAC, 91.29) and Hecto Wallet One (87.27).The project budget is 267 million won, with a contract period of 1 year, aimed at entrusting the digital assets seized by the police during investigations to external professional institutions for secure custody. Previously, there were cases in the Korean judicial system where seized bitcoins were lost, raising concerns about the need for external custody of digital assets.