Category: crypto

A man in China was sentenced to 10 years and nine months in prison for stealing 107 Bitcoin by memorizing a wallet recovery phrase. Prosecutors treated Bitcoin as property due to holders’ control through private keys and recovery phrases. The ruling does not change China’s restrictions on cryptocurrency trading.

FixedFloat tightened compliance rules for transactions linked to Huobi or HTX after UK sanctions. The exchange now suspends Huobi-origin funds, requires extra checks, and warns users to check for connections to sanctioned entities. UK authorities included HTX under Huobi sanctions, but HTX disputes the legal connection. ZachXBT warns of broad address tainting consequences.

Bitcoin has attracted $12 billion in inflows from ETFs and corporate treasury buyers in 2026, with corporate treasuries contributing the most demand. Despite ETF outflows and weaker retail participation, Bernstein believes Bitcoin’s store-of-value case remains intact as institutional ownership grows. Institutional participation is deepening, with corporate treasury buying offsetting ETF redemptions.

Strategy has resumed accumulating Bitcoin, buying 1,550 BTC after selling 32 BTC. This purchase raised its total holdings to 845,256 BTC and its dollar reserve to $1 billion. Despite Bitcoin trading below Strategy’s average cost of $75,680, the company still holds large unrealized losses. Strategy funded the purchase through share sales.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies has increased its Ethereum treasury to 5.54 million ETH, nearing its goal of owning 5% of the network’s supply. With more than 4.71 million ETH staked, the company projects annual revenue of about $230 million. Bitmine purchased 126,971 ETH, bringing its total holdings to 5.54 million tokens.

Ethereum researcher Luca Zanolini explains why the network separates block production from final settlement to ensure transactions continue during failures and disruptions. Automatic penalties reduce offline stake, while client diversity limits software failures. Ethereum aims to keep producing blocks with active validators to maintain finality and avoid network halt risks.

South Korean police searched Bithumb’s offices as part of an investigation into allegations that lawmaker Kim Byung-gi used his political influence to secure employment for his son at cryptocurrency companies. The investigation also involves Upbit operator Dunamu. Bithumb is already contesting a $24.6 million penalty for AML-related violations.

ZIGChain and Ondo Finance have integrated to bring tokenized stocks and ETFs to users on ZIGChain’s ecosystem. Ondo Finance has tokenized institutional-grade assets, making them programmable onchain. This partnership aims to make high-quality financial opportunities more accessible globally. The integration will roll out in phases starting at the end of May.

MetaMask has launched Agent Wallet, allowing AI agents to execute trades, swaps, and other transactions under user-defined controls. The wallet is designed for autonomous agents to carry out tasks without manual input. Security controls are central, with every transaction screened by Blockaid and requiring user approval for risky activity.

Despite facing a 25-year prison sentence, Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a presidential pardon application while challenging his conviction through the U.S. appeals process. Donald Trump has previously stated he does not plan to grant clemency, leaving Bankman-Fried’s legal and pardon requests as his main paths for relief.