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FBI and Thai police freeze $580m in crypto in cross-border fraud raid

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Key macro data puts crypto markets on watch as CPI, PCE and Fed speak

The FBI and Thai police froze about $580m in crypto and seized 8,000 phones in a joint strike on Southeast Asian pig butchering gangs targeting American victims.

Summary

  • U.S. federal agents and Thai police froze roughly $580 million in crypto and confiscated around 8,000 phones used by organized scam gangs targeting Americans.
  • The operation hits Southeast Asian pig butchering networks that run factory-sized fraud compounds, often staffed by trafficking victims forced to run fake crypto investment scams.
  • Authorities say the scale of the seizure shows both the industrial nature of crypto fraud and how advanced on-chain tracing is becoming for dismantling these networks at the infrastructure level.

United States federal law enforcement and Thai authorities have jointly frozen approximately $580 million in cryptocurrency assets as part of a sweeping international operation targeting organized fraud gangs preying on American victims, according to intelligence monitoring service Solid Intel.

The operation, conducted in coordination between the FBI and the Royal Thai Police, also resulted in the seizure of around 8,000 mobile phones — a scale that points to the industrialized, factory-like nature of modern crypto fraud networks. These devices are typically used by fraud operators to manage large volumes of simultaneous scam conversations, impersonate contacts, and move stolen funds across multiple wallets and exchanges in rapid succession.

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The $580 million figure places this operation among the largest cryptocurrency seizures ever executed in a single enforcement action, underscoring the enormous scale at which crypto-enabled fraud has grown as a global criminal enterprise. Southeast Asia has emerged over the past several years as a key operational hub for these networks, with countries including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand hosting compounds where fraud workers — many of them trafficking victims themselves — are compelled to run scams targeting victims in the United States, Europe, and beyond.

The dominant fraud typology in this region is so-called “pig butchering” — a form of long-con investment fraud in which criminals build trust with victims over weeks or months through romantic or social connections before luring them into fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. Victims are encouraged to make increasingly large deposits, shown fabricated returns, and ultimately stripped of their funds when they attempt to withdraw. The use of crypto as the payment rail is deliberate: it enables rapid cross-border transfers, is difficult to reverse, and can be quickly obfuscated through mixing services and chain-hopping techniques.

The FBI’s engagement in Thailand reflects a broader strategic shift in how U.S. law enforcement approaches crypto crime internationally. Rather than pursuing individual actors after the fact, agencies have increasingly moved toward proactive, coordinated operations with foreign partners designed to dismantle the infrastructure of fraud at source. The freezing of $580 million in assets — rather than simply identifying suspects — suggests authorities have developed sophisticated on-chain tracing capabilities that allow them to track and lock funds even across complex multi-hop transaction chains.

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For the crypto industry, the operation sends a dual message. On one hand, it demonstrates that blockchain’s inherent transparency remains a powerful tool for law enforcement. On the other, it highlights that crypto’s utility as a frictionless, borderless payment system continues to be systematically exploited by criminal networks at a scale that demands ongoing vigilance from exchanges, regulators, and the broader ecosystem.

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Crypto World

Grayscale Files S-1 for Hyperliquid ETF, Expanding Crypto ETF Field

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Crypto Breaking News

Grayscale has moved to bring a spot Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund to market, filing for a product that would track the Hyperliquid (HYPE) token and potentially trade on Nasdaq under the ticker GHYP if approved. The filing positions Grayscale alongside Bitwise and 21Shares in pursuing a dedicated on-exchange vehicle tied to Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures protocol and associated assets.

The company’s S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirms Coinbase as the custodian for the proposed ETF, though it does not disclose a management fee for GHYP. Notably, Grayscale indicates in the filing that staking rewards could be added to the ETF in the future, provided certain conditions are met.

Key takeaways

  • Grayscale filed an S-1 with the SEC for a spot Hyperliquid ETF (GHYP) that would trade on Nasdaq if approved, marking a continued push by traditional asset managers into tokenized, 24/7-trading instruments.
  • Coinbase is named as the custodian, but no management fee for the proposed ETF is disclosed in the filing.
  • The filing leaves open the possibility of incorporating staking rewards into GHYP later, subject to regulatory and other conditions.
  • Hyperliquid remains a dominant force in perpetual futures trading, with weekly volumes typically ranging from $40 billion to $100 billion, according to DeFiLlama data, while total weekly perps volume hovers between $125 billion and $300 billion this year.

Grayscale’s Hyperliquid bet and what it signals for investors

The S-1 filing outlines a strategy for offering a spot ETF that would provide direct exposure to the Hyperliquid ecosystem through the HYPE token. If cleared by regulators, GHYP would give investors a traditional market access path to a crypto-native instrument designed to track the price movements of Hyperliquid’s tokenized futures protocol. Grayscale’s choice of Nasdaq as a potential listing venue reflects a broader trend of bridging traditional exchanges with crypto-native assets, aiming to attract institutional participants seeking regulated, familiar trading rails.

Crucially, the document confirms Coinbase as the ETF’s custodian, anchoring the product to a widely used on-ramp and custody provider in the crypto ecosystem. However, the filing does not reveal a management fee, leaving a key detail for future disclosure and regulatory review.

Beyond current exposure, Grayscale notes a potential expansion: staking rewards could be integrated into GHYP at a later date if certain conditions are satisfied. That possibility would offer an additional yield channel for investors, on top of potential price appreciation of the HYPE token. The idea of staking-enabled ETFs has floated around in contemporaneous filings by peers, signaling growing appetite for yield-bearing crypto products among institutional issuers.

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Hyperliquid’s enduring role in the perpetuals market

Hyperliquid has established itself as a central venue for perpetual futures trading, a niche that blends crypto assets with continuous, derivatives-like exposure. Even as weekly trading volume for the platform cooled from its August peak, DeFi analytics show Hyperliquid handling between roughly $40 billion and $100 billion in weekly volume, keeping it at the top among perps platforms. DeFiLlama’s data corroborates Hyperliquid’s dominant position in the space, even as newer entrants emerged in 2025—Aster, Lighter, and edgeX—each carving out their own slices of the market but typically handling far less weekly volume than Hyperliquid.

Industry observers note that the broader perps market continues to move in sizable increments. Total weekly perps trading volume for the sector has hovered roughly between $125 billion and $300 billion this year, still well above levels from a year ago and signaling sustained demand for tokenized leverage and cross-asset exposure, particularly in a 24/7 trading environment that Hyperliquid helps to showcase.

Grayscale’s filing arrives amid a wave of interest in Hyperliquid-linked products from other asset managers. Bitwise filed for its own Hyperliquid spot ETF last year and amended the prospectus in December to include staking, while 21Shares signaled in its October filing that staking could be incorporated at a later date. These filings collectively illustrate a broader push to bring synthetic, crypto-native trading paradigms into regulated, exchange-traded formats that would be palatable to traditional financial audiences.

What to watch next

Regulatory review will determine whether GHYP can proceed to a Nasdaq listing. Investors should monitor not only the SEC’s assessment of the product’s structure and disclosures but also how Grayscale and other issuers address staking provisions, which could add yield opportunities while introducing new considerations around risk, custody, and volatility. As Hyperliquid and its competitors evolve, readers should track whether staking becomes a standard feature across spot Hyperliquid ETFs and how market liquidity and regulatory expectations shape those trajectories.

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Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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Crypto World

Grayscale Files For Spot Hyperliquid ETF

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Grayscale Files For Spot Hyperliquid ETF

Unlike Bitwise, Grayscale doesn’t plan to incorporate staking for its Hyperliquid ETF but hasn’t ruled out integrating it in the future.

Crypto asset manager Grayscale has filed for a spot Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund, joining Bitwise and 21Shares in seeking to offer a product tied to the Hyperliquid perpetual futures protocol and blockchain.

The Grayscale HYPE ETF would track the price movement of the Hyperliquid (HYPE) token and trade under the ticker GHYP on the Nasdaq if approved, according to Grayscale’s S-1 registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

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Grayscale listed Coinbase as the custodian but didn’t disclose a management fee for the proposed Hyperliquid product.

Grayscale’s S-1 filing for a Hyperliquid ETF. Source: SEC

Grayscale’s filing comes as Hyperliquid continues to be integrated by crypto platforms and be increasingly relied on by TradFi when traditional markets are closed, as it offers 24/7 trading for tokenized real-world assets like oil and gold.

Grayscale said it may consider incorporating staking rewards into its Hyperliquid ETF at a later date, provided certain conditions are met. 

Related: Morgan Stanley files amended S-1 for MSBT Bitcoin ETF

Staking would enable GHYP investors to earn yield on top of potential price appreciation from the HYPE token.

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Bitwise filed for its Hyperliquid ETF in September and amended it in December to include staking, while 21Shares also contemplated incorporating staking at a later date in its October filing.

Hyperliquid continues to dominate perps trading

While trading volume on Hyperliquid has cooled off from its August highs, it continues to see between $40 billion and $100 billion in weekly volume — maintaining its position as the most traded perps futures platform, DeFiLlama data shows.