TL;DR

• Tether froze USDT held in 131 TRON wallets after OFAC linked the addresses to ISIS-K.
• The updated U.S. sanctions list added 134 crypto wallet addresses, including 131 on TRON and three on Monero.
• Chainalysis said the sanctioned TRON wallets received more than $1.4 million since 2023 and sent over $880,000.
• The latest action expands Tether’s compliance efforts as regulators tighten oversight of illicit crypto transactions.

Tether has frozen USDT balances held in all 131 TRON wallets linked to the terrorist group ISIS-K after the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) expanded its sanctions list to include 134 cryptocurrency wallet addresses. The updated designation covers 131 TRON addresses and three Monero addresses believed to be associated with the group’s financial activities.

According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the sanctioned TRON wallets have received more than $1.4 million since 2023 and have transferred over $880,000 during that period. The action follows OFAC’s latest sanctions update targeting ISIS-K, the Islamic State’s affiliate operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Central Asia.

OFAC Expands Sanctions as Tether Blocks ISIS-K-Linked Wallets

The latest sanctions update adds 134 cryptocurrency wallet identifiers to OFAC’s existing designation of ISIS-K, a group that has previously used cryptocurrency to support fundraising efforts. Historical investigations have shown that the organization’s media arm, al-Azaim Media Foundation, solicited crypto donations through online campaigns using multiple digital assets, including TRON, Monero, and Bitcoin.

Chainalysis points out that the 131 TRON wallets at the center of the sanctions have interacted with mainstream crypto services and, in some cases, transferred funds to cryptocurrency exchangers based in Syria. In response to the designation, Tether froze the USDT balances held in all of the sanctioned TRON addresses.

The sanctions update comes as regulators continue to strengthen oversight of cryptocurrency transactions linked to terrorism financing and other illicit activities. Following the latest designation, financial institutions and virtual asset service providers are expected to update their sanctions screening and transaction monitoring systems to identify exposure to the newly listed wallet addresses.

Tether Continues to Expand Compliance Efforts

The latest wallet freeze comes just days after Tether, currently providing custodial wallets, blocked $344 million in USDT held across two TRON wallets that had been flagged by U.S. authorities over suspected illicit activity. That action ranked among the company’s largest compliance operations and reflected its ongoing coordination with law enforcement agencies.

According to Tether, the company has frozen more than $4.4 billion in digital assets since it began working with authorities, including approximately $2.1 billion linked to requests from U.S. agencies. The stablecoin issuer says it has supported more than 2,300 investigations involving 340 agencies across 65 countries.

The latest enforcement action highlights the growing role of stablecoin issuers in enforcing sanctions on public blockchain networks. While blockchain transactions remain transparent and traceable, issuers such as Tether, which is also one of the biggest Bitcoin holders, can freeze tokens when wallet addresses are linked to sanctioned entities or criminal investigations, making compliance measures an increasingly important part of the digital asset ecosystem.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says authorities have recorded 77 incidents involving kidnapping, extortion, or attempted extortion linked to crypto in the first half of 2026—an increase from 45 cases recorded across all of 2025. Speaking to the Association for the Development of Digital Assets (ADAN), Nuñez pledged a “more ambitious” government response to tackle the so-called “crypto wrench” attacks, where criminals use physical violence to force victims into handing over cryptocurrencies.

France is among the countries most frequently targeted for these attacks, in part due to the scale of retail adoption. ADAN estimates that about 11% of the French population owns cryptocurrencies—roughly 7.3 million people—making the country a major pool for criminals seeking both visibility and leverage.

Key takeaways

• France recorded 77 crypto-linked kidnapping/extortion incidents in the first half of 2026, up from 45 across all of 2025, according to figures cited by BFM Business.
• Nuñez says France’s dedicated prevention platform and rapid-alert/protection system has attracted 724 sign-ups so far.
• Emergency measures have reportedly led to 200 arrests, including an attacker detained within eight hours after a victim used an emergency identification hotline.
• Nuñez outlined a three-part plan focused on better intelligence-sharing, deeper coordination with ADAN, and improved operational alignment between security services.
• CertiK reports wrench attacks rose 41% globally in the first four months of 2026 versus the same period in 2025, with Europe accounting for most activity.

A sharp rise in crypto-linked extortion and kidnapping

Nuñez’s remarks underscore how quickly crypto crime involving physical coercion appears to be scaling in France. The 77 incidents reported so far this year, as cited by BFM Business, represent a steep year-over-year acceleration: 45 incidents were logged over the entire previous calendar year of 2025.

Nuñez told ADAN that authorities regard these cases as serious and that public concern is justified. That framing matters for both policy and investor sentiment, because it signals that the state is moving beyond general warnings and into more structured prevention and enforcement.

France expands prevention and emergency response

Earlier in 2026, French authorities reportedly launched a prevention platform alongside a rapid-alert and protection system for crypto holders and professionals. Nuñez said the initiative has already reached 724 sign-ups, suggesting that at least some in the sector are willing to use formal reporting channels and risk-reduction tooling.

According to Nuñez, the emergency approach has also translated into enforcement outcomes. He said it has resulted in 200 arrests, and highlighted a recent case where an attacker was arrested within eight hours on Friday—helped, he said, by a victim using an emergency identification hotline.

For victims and service providers, the practical value of such a hotline is that time-to-response can determine whether coercion ends with a transfer or with the attack interrupted. For the industry, higher sign-up rates may also improve the quality of reporting data, helping law enforcement target networks rather than individual incidents.

Three-part plan: intelligence, coordination, and operations

Nuñez promised a “more ambitious” three-part plan designed to strengthen security across the crypto sector. The plan includes:

• Stronger intelligence-sharing, reflecting Nuñez’s view that criminal networks often operate from abroad.
• Deepened partnership with ADAN, aiming to align the government’s approach with the sector’s infrastructure and reporting mechanisms.
• Better operational coordination between security services, intended to streamline how cases are investigated and responded to.

While the government’s prevention measures are already in place, the emphasis on intelligence-sharing and cross-agency coordination indicates officials see wrench attacks as a transnational criminal problem—not simply isolated cases. That framing can influence how exchanges, custody providers, and other compliant market participants think about operational readiness and incident reporting.

Why France is a focal point for wrench attacks

Broader reporting from blockchain security firm CertiK adds context to Nuñez’s announcement. In a report released in May, CertiK said wrench attacks globally increased 41% in the first four months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, with most attacks occurring in Europe.

CertiK also described France as the “epicenter” of these attacks. In its assessment, factors include the presence of prominent industry companies and their executives, what it characterizes as a culture of public “flexing” and voluntary doxxing within parts of the crypto community, and “proven exposure” from multiple sensitive data leaks.

The human and industry consequences are not theoretical. French hardware wallet maker Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped and held for ransom in January 2025, alongside his partner, before police rescued them. The incident followed a damaging earlier event: CertiK-linked coverage points to Ledger’s 2020 data breach, in which its customer database was hacked and more than 270,000 personal records were leaked—an episode that the firm says contributed to subsequent phishing and wrench attacks that continue to this day.

“France ranks among the most targeted countries in the world for this type of breach,” CertiK said, connecting the country’s risk to both criminal targeting and the downstream effects of data exposure.

What to watch next for holders and the sector

Nuñez’s plan suggests France intends to scale enforcement and prevention further, but readers should watch whether sign-ups to the rapid-alert system continue to grow and whether intelligence-sharing and operational coordination lead to sustained disruption of the networks behind these attacks. With CertiK’s data indicating Europe is driving much of the year’s rise, the next measure of success will likely be fewer incidents alongside faster intervention when threats emerge.

Robinhood has launched its Ethereum Layer 2 mainnet alongside tokenized stock trading and perpetual futures, expanding its blockchain based financial services beyond the testnet stage.

According to an announcement during the company’s “The World is Flat” event in London, Robinhood has unveiled the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 network built with Arbitrum technology, while introducing tokenized stocks and decentralized perpetual futures trading as part of its latest international product rollout.

Speaking during the launch, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and other executives described the announcement as the company’s most ambitious global expansion and product strategy so far, with a focus on combining traditional financial products with decentralized finance infrastructure.

Robinhood Chain moves from testnet to mainnet

Robinhood Chain has been launched as a permissionless, AI native Ethereum Layer 2 network designed for real world assets. Built using Arbitrum’s technology stack to institutional standards, the network includes integrations with Alchemy, BitGo, and Chainlink, while also supporting built in DeFi features such as lending and borrowing.

The company said Uniswap will deploy a dedicated automated market maker as the chain’s primary public liquidity protocol, while Pleiades will launch its own automated market maker to serve as the primary proprietary trading venue.

The mainnet launch follows Robinhood Chain’s public testnet debut in February. At the time, Tenev said the network processed more than four million transactions during its first week, with developers already experimenting with tokenized stock assets and decentralized financial applications. The testnet was built to let developers evaluate tools and infrastructure before the production rollout.

Tokenized stocks and perpetual futures expand offering

Alongside the blockchain launch, Robinhood introduced a new version of Stock Tokens that allows eligible users to trade tokenized equities around the clock directly on Robinhood Chain. According to the company’s disclosures, the tokens can also be used as collateral across decentralized finance applications and deployed into lending pools.

Robinhood said the new Stock Tokens are tokenized debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited. While they provide economic exposure to the underlying shares, holders do not receive legal ownership or beneficial rights in the underlying stocks.

Eligible users in more than 120 countries can access the assets through Robinhood Wallet, with spot trading available on decentralized exchanges including Uniswap, Rialto, Lighter, 1inch and Arcus, which was developed by the team behind dYdX. The company said the product is unavailable to users in the United States and remains restricted in several other jurisdictions, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and sanctioned regions.

Robinhood also renamed its earlier tokenized equity product as Classic Stock Tokens. Those assets, first introduced during the company’s Cannes event in June 2025, will continue to operate inside the Robinhood Europe app after the launch of the new on chain version.

Attention also turned to Robinhood Wallet, which now offers eligible users in selected jurisdictions access to perpetual futures through Ethereum-based decentralized exchange Lighter. According to the company’s disclosures, the product is not available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and other restricted markets.

Robinhood said Lighter has allocated $11 million worth of its native LIT tokens to the Robinhood community. Eligible users will earn trading points on perpetual futures transactions that convert into LIT tokens, with trades executed through Robinhood Wallet receiving double the points compared with trades placed directly through Lighter’s web application.

Key Highlights

• Trading volume across Kalshi, Polymarket, and Polymarket US surged to $44.8 billion in June, marking a 75% increase from May’s figures
• Kalshi dominated growth with an impressive 87.4% month-over-month expansion, totaling $31.5 billion
• Polymarket’s international platform jumped 45% to $10.26 billion, while its U.S. version reached $3.04 billion
• FIFA World Cup 2026, launching June 11, served as the primary catalyst for unprecedented trading activity
• Kalshi’s World Cup championship market alone accumulated over $832 million in wagers, with France leading at 35% probability

The prediction market industry witnessed its most explosive month ever in June, with major platforms Kalshi and Polymarket experiencing unprecedented growth driven primarily by FIFA World Cup 2026 enthusiasm.

New figures from The Block reveal that Kalshi, Polymarket, and Polymarket US collectively generated $44.8 billion in trading activity throughout June. This represents a substantial 75% leap compared to the $25.66 billion recorded in May.

These statistics underscore the rapidly expanding mainstream acceptance of prediction markets, platforms where participants wager actual funds on outcomes spanning political contests, sporting events, and other real-world developments.

Kalshi Dominates Market Share

Kalshi emerged as the clear leader among the three platforms, demonstrating exceptional performance. Monthly volume skyrocketed from $16.81 billion in May to $31.5 billion in June, representing an 87.4% monthly surge.

This achievement positions Kalshi as the undisputed volume leader, capturing over two-thirds of the combined three-platform total.

Polymarket’s primary international platform generated $10.26 billion throughout June, representing a 45% uptick from May’s $7.08 billion figure.

After experiencing consecutive monthly declines from March through May, Polymarket successfully reversed its downward trajectory in June.

Meanwhile, Polymarket US, the platform’s CFTC-regulated American operation, secured $3.04 billion in June volume, climbing from May’s $1.77 billion.

World Cup Emerges as Primary Growth Engine

The commencement of FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 11 has unquestionably been the dominant force propelling activity across all three prediction market platforms.

Kalshi’s tournament champion prediction market has single-handedly generated more than $832 million in total bets. Approximately 35% of those wagers favor France capturing the championship.

On Polymarket, individual match contracts have consistently attracted between $500,000 and $2 million in volume per game.

With the tournament scheduled to conclude on July 19, elevated trading volumes are expected to persist for multiple additional weeks.

These impressive volume figures emerge as prediction market platforms continue navigating complex regulatory challenges across the United States.

Over a dozen state regulatory bodies have initiated legal proceedings targeting both Kalshi and Polymarket. These jurisdictions claim the platforms provide unauthorized sports wagering or gambling services to their residents.

Both companies, supported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s position, maintain that federal regulatory authority permits them to facilitate sports-related prediction markets without securing individual state licenses.

This regulatory conflict remains unresolved, though it has not dampened trading momentum in the immediate term.

June’s combined performance establishes a new benchmark for monthly platform volume, with significant World Cup action still remaining before tournament completion.

“Historically, sustained transitions from net distribution to net accumulation have often emerged during periods of market weakness, as long-term investors gradually increase their holdings while shorter-term participants de-risk,” Glassnode said in its latest report.

Small wallets lead dip-buying

The signal gets more interesting when looking at the broader accumulation picture with the help of Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score. This indicator measures buying behavior across wallet sizes on a rolling 30-day basis on a scale from 0 to 1, and has shifted meaningfully higher over the past month, suggesting broad-based bargain hunting.

The strongest accumulation is currently showing up among the smallest holders (under 1 BTC), whose trend score appears near maximum at roughly 0.8-0.9, and mid-sized entities holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, which are also reading close to that range. Wallets in the 1-10 BTC and 10-100 BTC cohorts show moderate accumulation at roughly 0.6-0.7, while larger wallets in the 1,000-10,000 BTC range have also turned net buyers, though at a moderate reading of around 0.5-0.6.

What stands out is the largest whale cohort, wallets holding more than 10,000 BTC, which still reads closer to neutral at roughly 0.4-0.5, suggesting the biggest players have yet to commit meaningfully to the accumulation trend.

Still, the synchronized accumulation across most wallet-size cohorts is significant and suggests that BTC at $60,000 is cheap enough to attract new demand from several corners of the market at once.