Uniswap Labs has launched Permissioned Pools on Uniswap v4, adding onchain access checks for regulated assets that cannot trade freely between every wallet. 

The open-source hook standard lets approved users swap tokenized funds, securities, equities and other restricted assets through automated market maker pools. Uniswap announced the product on July 23, 2026, after working with firms that issue and manage regulated onchain assets. It keeps issuer compliance controls visible and enforceable onchain.

Upbit has added Morpho (MORPHO) and Euler (EUL) to its Korean won market, expanding direct KRW trading for two Ethereum-based decentralized lending projects in Korea. 

MORPHO/KRW opened on July 25 at 6:00 p.m. KST, while Upbit planned EUL/KRW for July 26.

However, Upbit changed Euler’s launch timetable shortly before trading. The exchange moved the start from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. KST on July 26. The notice said, “The trading support start time for EUL will change.” Deposits and withdrawals for both assets remain limited to the Ethereum network. The listings also broaden access beyond existing BTC and USDT pairs already available for both assets on Upbit.

Sberbank plans to launch cryptocurrency trading infrastructure and a digital depository by Dec. 1, 2026.

The system will support regulated crypto trading, custody and settlement for eligible customers in Russia.

The project follows the approval of new rules covering crypto exchanges, brokers, banks and digital depositories. Russia will introduce the wider regulatory framework on Sept. 1, 2026, while companies will receive additional time to meet licensing requirements.

Sberbank plans digital custody and off-chain records

According to Interfax, Sberbank’s digital depository will record customers’ cryptocurrency ownership and account for many transactions outside public blockchain networks. The bank will also manage active wallets for deposits, withdrawals and transfers.

Alexander Vedyakhin, Sberbank’s first deputy chairman, said the bank intends to complete the required systems before the December deadline.

“Sber plans to implement the necessary infrastructure and launch the digital depository by Dec. 1, 2026.”

Sberbank has not yet named the cryptocurrencies that its platform will support. The bank has also not disclosed fees, customer eligibility rules or withdrawal limits. These details may depend on supporting regulations that Russian authorities still need to approve.

Under the planned structure, customers could hold recorded crypto rights inside Sberbank’s system. The bank would then use its controlled wallets when customers deposit, withdraw or transfer assets to external addresses.

Russia introduces rules for investors and intermediaries

The Bank of Russia said the new framework will allow qualified and non-qualified investors to purchase cryptocurrencies through regulated intermediaries. However, different limits will apply to each group.

Non-qualified investors must pass a knowledge test before buying eligible cryptocurrencies. They may purchase up to 300,000 rubles of crypto each year through one intermediary. Public access will focus on assets that meet liquidity and market-size standards set by regulators.

Qualified investors must also complete testing, but they will have access to a wider range of assets without the same annual limit. Banks, brokers and asset managers may offer services under their existing licences and added crypto requirements.

Meanwhile, new cryptocurrency exchanges and digital repositories will require separate approval. The Bank of Russia will supervise the market and set standards for custody, accounting and customer protection.

Russia will continue to prohibit cryptocurrency payments for goods and services inside the country. However, companies may use crypto for approved cross-border settlements. Residents may also need to report some foreign crypto holdings and transactions to tax authorities.

The framework takes effect on Sept. 1, 2026. Companies covered by the new rules will have until July 1, 2027 to secure licences and bring their systems into compliance.

Sberbank expands its existing digital asset services

Sberbank has operated in Russia’s regulated digital asset sector since joining the register of information system operators in 2022. The bank has issued digital financial assets and structured products linked to Bitcoin, Ethereum and cryptocurrency baskets.

Ascrypto.news previously reported, Sberbank was preparing a crypto wallet and digital asset depository before the new framework’s launch. The report said the bank could also consider access to foreign crypto exchanges, depending on final regulatory requirements.

Sberbank has also tested cryptocurrency-backed lending. In December 2025, the bank completed a pilot loan with Russian Bitcoin miner Intelion Data. The company pledged mined cryptocurrency as collateral.

Reuters reported that Sberbank later considered offering similar loans to corporate customers. The bank said miners and companies holding digital assets had shown interest in using crypto as collateral.

The bank has also explored cryptocurrency custody services. In July 2025,Reuters reported that Sberbank had submitted proposals to the central bank on storing Russian customers’ crypto assets through regulated banking infrastructure.

Russian financial companies prepare for crypto trading

Other Russian financial institutions are also preparing services under the new framework. According to crypto.news, VTB and T-Bank were developing digital depository services, while Moscow Exchange was considering regulated cryptocurrency operations.

Alfa-Bank has also tested limited crypto services and custody tools. These projects show that large Russian financial groups are positioning their systems around the new rules before the July 2027 licensing deadline.

The regulated market will divide responsibilities among banks, brokers, exchanges and repositories. Brokers may process customer orders, while exchanges provide trading services. Digital repositories will record customer rights and custody arrangements.

Sberbank’s Dec. 1 launch target places its project within the regulatory transition period. Before opening the service, the bank must complete its wallet, trading, accounting and custody systems. It must also publish supported assets, fees and customer access requirements.

Binance’s chief security officer, Jimmy Su, says the exchange is actively testing its own workforce against simulated phishing attempts—and tying repeated failures to employment outcomes. Su told Cointelegraph that the internal “red team” runs phishing exercises on a monthly basis to gauge whether security awareness among staff is improving.

According to Su, employees who fail the exercises aren’t just retrained once. Instead, Binance uses remediation training for those who miss the mark, and persistent, repeat failures can ultimately affect their standing at the company, reflecting the role that social engineering plays in real-world cyber incidents.

Key takeaways

• Binance conducts monthly simulated phishing attacks against employees as part of an ongoing internal security program.
• The simulations are carried out by Binance’s red team, a unit focused on ethical hacking and vulnerability discovery.
• Failed employees receive remediation training, while repeated failures can negatively affect performance reviews and potentially job outcomes.
• Binance says the program has been running for three to four years, with Su describing significant improvements in security hygiene over time.
• The company uses multiple real-world lures—such as fake recruiter outreach and other “information collection” tactics—to test staff resilience.

Why Binance is testing its own staff

Su said Binance runs phishing simulations “just so we understand if our security hygiene is improving,” framing the effort as a practical measurement exercise rather than a theoretical awareness campaign. The red team’s role, as described by Su, is to attempt intrusions and interactions that mirror real attack paths, then feed results back into training.

Binance is often described as a large-scale target in crypto due to its user base and market footprint. Su did not provide additional internal metrics in the interview, but the context underscores the stakes: Binance reports 323 million registered users, while DefiLlama estimates the exchange holds $137.7 billion in assets.

For investors and traders, the takeaway is that big exchanges treat human behavior as part of their threat model. The more a firm relies on operational processes—such as customer support, account access, identity verification, and internal tooling—the more social engineering becomes a risk factor that technical defenses alone can’t fully eliminate.

Social engineering remains a recurring breach pathway

Su’s comments land in the context of broader industry reporting on social engineering as a driver of crypto security incidents. In February, AMLBot estimated that 65% of crypto security incidents in 2025 were driven by social engineering. Later, in April, a long-term social engineering campaign preceded Drift Protocol’s $285 million hack, according to earlier coverage referenced by Cointelegraph.

Su also said the simulated attacks have been in place for three to four years. He suggested that security hygiene has improved substantially since the program began: “In the beginning, the security hygiene left a lot to be desired. But after this amount of time, the company has improved significantly,” he said.

This matters because it highlights a specific operational change: Binance is not treating awareness training as a one-time checkbox, but as an ongoing feedback loop. The key shift for organizations is moving from “teach and forget” to “test, measure, and enforce.”

What the simulations look like: recruiting lures and data-harvesting scenarios

One scenario Binance uses is impersonation of job recruiters. Su said the red team poses as recruiters—an approach that mirrors a common pattern seen in phishing incidents across industries, where “legitimate-sounding” contact becomes the entry point for further manipulation.

Su also described another lure: fake “free conference invites” aimed at collecting personal information and determining how many employees fall for it. He emphasized that the job interview process is only one of multiple scenarios used by Binance’s red team.

These details are important because social engineering attacks in crypto don’t always arrive as obvious “click this link” attempts. They can be structured like legitimate professional outreach, scheduling requests, or follow-ups—channels that can appear normal to staff who might otherwise be trained to recognize traditional phishing emails.

Another well-known technique referenced in the interview is the “Zoom meeting attack,” where attackers trick victims into installing malware disguised as a video conferencing update. Many such campaigns begin with a fake job opportunity, but they can also use other professional hooks like project funding or partnership proposals.

How failure is handled: remediation, reviews, and potential dismissal

Binance’s approach doesn’t end with simulated testing. Su said employees who fail the phishing simulations undergo remediation training. He also described incentives tied to the results, stating that performance reviews reflect test outcomes.

Su’s framing is direct: “If someone repeatedly fails the phishing-simulation attack, that will negatively impact their rating. That’s the incentive to be vigilant.”

He further said repeated severe failures could “bottom out” performance ratings, potentially leading to dismissal. While Su did not outline exact thresholds or timelines for dismissal in the interview, the principle is clear: Binance is treating repeated susceptibility to social engineering as a personnel risk, not just a training gap.

Outside centralized exchanges, similar social engineering dynamics have produced major losses in DeFi ecosystems as well. For example, Cointelegraph referenced a September 2025 incident in which a Venus Protocol user reportedly lost around $13 million after a malicious Zoom client compromised a computer and led the attacker to gain control over the victim’s account. Venus paused the protocol and used an emergency governance vote to recover assets, later returning positions worth $11.4 million to the victim, according to earlier coverage cited in the article.

Those examples reinforce the broader point behind Binance’s internal testing: even when attackers target individuals rather than systems, the outcome can still be catastrophic at scale.

What readers should watch next is whether Binance’s approach—monthly red-team phishing tests, remediation, and performance-linked consequences—becomes a more standard pattern across large crypto firms as regulators and stakeholders increasingly focus on operational security beyond code and infrastructure.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance runs simulated phishing attacks against its own employees and can fire staff who repeatedly fail the tests, according to Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su.

The fake attacks are conducted by Binance’s red team, an internal ethical hacking unit whose job is to break into systems to identify vulnerabilities.

“We do phishing attacks on our own employees on a monthly basis just so we understand if our security hygiene is improving,” Su told Cointelegraph. “The ones that have failed it, we will do remediation training.” 

The measure shows the lengths crypto companies will go to prepare for social engineering attacks. Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, reports 323 million registered users, while DefiLlama estimates the exchange holds $137.7 billion in assets.

Jimmy Su, chief security officer at Binance. Source: Binance

In February, AMLBot estimated that 65% of crypto security incidents in 2025 were driven by social engineering. In April, Drift Protocol suffered a $285 million hack, which came after a long-term social engineering campaign. 

Su said Binance has been running these simulated attacks for three to four years. 

“In the beginning, the security hygiene left a lot to be desired. But after this amount of time, the company has improved significantly.” 

One of the simulated attacks involves the red team posing as job recruiters, said Su. 

Related: Trader loses $1M after signing phishing token approval 

One of the more well-known attack methods in recent years has been the “Zoom meeting attack,” where hackers trick victims into installing malware disguised as an update to the video conferencing app. Many of these attacks start with a fake job opportunity, though some use project funding or a partnership proposal as the lure. 

In September 2025, a major Venus Protocol user lost roughly $13 million after a malicious Zoom client compromised his computer, leading him to grant an attacker control over his account. Venus paused the protocol and used an emergency governance vote to recover the assets, later returning positions worth $11.4 million to the victim. 

“The interview process is just one scenario. There are other ones. For example, it could be that we are offering some kind of free conference invite just to try to collect personal information and see how many of them will actually fall for it,” said Su.  

Su said employees are incentivized to perform well on the tests because the results are reflected in their performance reviews.

“If someone repeatedly fails the phishing-simulation attack, that will negatively impact their rating. That’s the incentive to be vigilant.” 

Repeated, severe failures could lead to their rating to “bottom out,” which could see them dismissed, he said.

Magazine: Fears of AI-driven DeFi hack epidemic overstated for now — but not for long

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