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Crypto bad actors from the DPRK have stolen $340.4 million in 2023, down from $1.7 billion from the prior year, but that's no reason to feel at ease. Cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea-linked hackers is down a whopping 80% from 2022 — but a blockchain forensics firm says it isn’t necessarily a sign of progress. As of Sept. 14, 2023, North Korea-linked hackers have stolen a total of $340.4 million worth of cryptocurrency, down from a record $1.65 billion reported funds stolen in 2022. Cryptocurrency funds stolen by North Korean-backed groups between 2016-2023. Source: Chainalysis “The fact that this year’s numbers are down is not necessarily an indicator of improved security or reduced criminal activity,” Chainalysis said in a Sept. 14 report. “We must remember that 2022 set a dismally high benchmark.” “In reality, we are only one large hack away from crossing the billion-dollar threshold of stolen funds for 2023.” Over the past 10 days, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has been link...

The Securities and Exchange Commission will inevitably approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, but we should retain some healthy skepticism about the risks it will create. The first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application, filed in July 2013, was denied in both 2017 and 2018. A decade has passed since that initial application, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected more than a dozen additional applications and repeatedly punted the date for deciding on others. The ETF saga’s latest iteration saw Bitcoin (BTC) jump more than 6% as industry advocates celebrated a court ruling that affirmed what we already knew — that the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s ETF application was “arbitrary and capricious.” This was, of course, followed by the SEC delaying its decision on all seven pending Bitcoin ETFs, and a subsequent price drop. Now we wait as the SEC deliberates on its next move and Grayscale pleads for approval. Related: Bitcoin ETFs: Even worse for crypto than central exch...

Florida's current governor announced his bid for the 2024 U.S. presidency during a Twitter Space with Elon Musk and rounded off with remarks on the cryptocurrency. Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, has officially thrown his hat in the 2024 United States presidential ring and has notably promised to “protect” Bitcoin (BTC) if he gets the job. On May 24, Twitter boss Elon Musk joined DeSantis and around 520,000 live listeners in the Twitter broadcast of his announcement, which was moderated by venture capitalist David Sacks. “As president , we’ll protect the ability to do things like Bitcoin,” said DeSantis. He added “there’s risks involved with it,” but the people interested in the cryptocurrency “are sophisticated” and “can make decisions.” “You have every right to do Bitcoin. The only reason these people in Washington don’t like it, is because they don’t control it.” DeSantis called those on Capitol Hill “central planners” who “want to have control over society.” ...

Two investment moguls are betting on different directions for inflation and Treasury yields, with potentially negative impacts on Bitcoin. Warren Buffett and Bill Ackman are two of the most successful investors in the world, but they have taken opposing views on the bond market in recent months. Only one can be right. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says he is shorting US Treasuries. if long-term inflation is 3% not 2%, the 30y Treasury yield could rise to 5.5%. In contrast, Warren Buffett has announced buying positions in 10y US Treasuries. Shorting US 10y bonds seems… pic.twitter.com/X2zSPzJ91Y — Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) August 5, 2023 Buffett has been buying short-term Treasury bills, while Ackman has been shorting long-term Treasury bonds. Could both of these investors be right? Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world's largest investment holding companies. Buffett’s worth is estimated to be over $100 billion. Bill Ackma...

Once fully licensed in Dubai, Bybit plans to run a full-scope exchange, offering crypto lending, payments, investment and other services. Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit already operates out of Dubai, but its current licensing doesn’t allow the firm to serve all customers, according to its CEO. On June 27, Bybit FinTech FZE, a subsidiary of the global exchange Bybit, announced it received the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) preparatory license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Speaking to Cointelegraph, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the exchange is working hard to acquire a full market product license in Dubai, which will allow the exchange to operate for a full spectrum of customers in the United Arab Emirates. “Bybit already operates out of Dubai; the MVP license only allows Bybit to service a very restricted set of accredited investors,” Zhou said. “I feel positive about our progress as VARA demonstrates an interest and passion for innovation and entrepreneurship,” he...

In its proof of concept, TASE minted the first ERC-1155 security token representing a dummy digital government bond. A new phase in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's integration of blockchain technology and traditional assets has been completed with the minting of the first dummy digital government bond as an ERC-1155 security token.  The bond mint is part of the proof of concept (PoC) phase of Project Eden, a partnership between the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the stock exchange to explore blockchain infrastructure in issuing and settling government bonds . Also included in the proof of concept was the tokenization of an Israeli Shekel — the country's fiat currency — which will serve as a digital payment token to power transactions. As part of the settlement process, a smart contract for bond management is used, which acts as an intermediary to ensure that transactions are verified and do not contain inconsistencies. According to a June 6 blog post, the initiative's go-...