The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a joint operation by Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, has frozen more than $450 million in illicit cryptocurrency since launching in September 2024, with 43.9% more illicit proceeds intercepted in 2025 than the prior year.

The May update reflects expanded cooperation with police forces in the United States, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also cited the unit as a leading public-private model for digital asset enforcement.

T3 Expands Reach Across 23 Jurisdictions

The unit operates in 23 jurisdictions, including the United States, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Since its September 2024 debut, it has analyzed millions of transactions across five continents to identify exchange hacks, exploits, DPRK-linked activity, terrorist financing, money laundering, and violent crime cases.

Past T3 actions include a Spanish bust that recovered about $26.4 million tied to a Madrid-based laundering ring.

Response time has been a focus. T3 says it has frozen funds within 24 hours during multiple account takeovers and violent crime emergencies.

The unit also supported Operation Lusocoin, a Brazilian Federal Police investigation that froze more than R$3 billion in crypto, including 4.3 million USDT, Tether’s flagship stablecoin, tied to the criminal network.

Wrench Attacks and North Korean Funds Move Into Focus

Cases this year have spanned controlled substances, terrorist financing, and what T3 calls wrench attacks, a category covering home invasions, kidnappings, and violent extortion against crypto holders.

The unit says it can lock targeted wallets within hours of a verified law enforcement request. BeInCrypto has reported separately that physical attacks targeting digital asset users could climb sharply in 2026.

Recognition came earlier this year, when the FATF named T3, alongside TRM’s Beacon Network, as a leading framework for tackling digital asset crime.

TRM Labs has estimated that illicit crypto flows reached a record $158 billion, an environment in which real-time identification and freezing have become central to enforcement.

“This $450 million milestone is just the beginning of what T3 is capable of, as its impact will only continue to grow in scale and importance.” Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, in a statement.

The post Tether, TRON, TRM Labs Freeze $450 Million as T3 Crime Crackdown Widens appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Source link

As the Commodity Futures Trading Commission takes on a growing task to police U.S. crypto trading, senior lawmakers are saying it needs bipartisan leadership.

Source link

The team behind the controversial project continues to post frequent updates to its substantial user base in terms of the latest developments in its broader ecosystem.

The latest, which went live on Pi Network’s only official account on X, focused on how vibe coders and creators can use the ‘massive user base of over 60 million Engaged Pioneers.’

AI and Human Input

Ever since Pi Network’s Core Team introduced the Pi App Studio last year, they have often outlined the advantages of using AI. However, instead of trying to separate the new technology from human input, they are actively combining them to get the best of both worlds.

In the new post, the team said vibe coders and creators can utilize the aforementioned 60 million user base by “easily bringing their external AI-created apps to Pi’s real distribution network and utility ecosystem through Pi App Studio.”

This means that even those with non-technical products can build apps using platforms such as Codex, Replit, Lovable, Claude Code, Cursor, or other AI-assisted coding tools. Then, they can employ the Pi App Studio to convert the new applications into Pi-native apps.

The post doubles down on the narrative that Pi Network aims to close the gap between creating apps, something in which AI can easily assist, and turning those new products into actually usable and helpful tools.

Ideas Too Good Not to Be Seen

The team further noted that creators can now connect their apps to an existing ecosystem with users, payment capabilities, identity verification, decentralized human infrastructure, and platform-level tools in place, instead of rebuilding infrastructure from scratch.

Consequently, this feature allows users’ ideas to become reality and reach other customers a lot faster. The team said it added this possibility because “your ideas are too good to be seen.” The feature is already activated and users can take advantage from it using the Pi App Studio.

The post Pi Network Drops New Update That ‘Changes the Equation for Creators’: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Source link

Popular on-chain investigator ZachXBT updated his 100,000 followers on Telegram minutes ago that the popular decentralized exchange THORChain has likely become a victim of a new crypto hack.

The reported attack appears to be for over $10.5 million, as the platform was exploited on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Base.

Although there has been no official confirmation from THORChain’s team as of the time of this point, the project’s native token plummeted immediately after the news spread on X.

RUNE traded above $0.58 before it crashed by double-digits to a two-week low of $0.50, where it found some support.

This is a breaking story with few details at the moment, so make sure to follow for additional information in the following hours.

UPDATE 1: ZachXBT noted shortly after his first report that the actual stolen amount has grown to $10.7 million.

The post RUNE Plunges by 15% as THORChain Falls Victim to New Hack: ZachXBT appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Source link

Source link

Layer-1 blockchain developer Solayer launched a Visa-compatible payment card that allows users to spend USDC balances through in-store, online and contactless transactions.

The card supports ATM withdrawals in supported regions and can be ordered through the Solayer Pay app, according to the announcement. Existing users can request the card for free, while new users pay a $20 annual activation fee.

Source: Solayer Pay

Solayer Pay launched in April 2025 under the name Emerald Card and initially rolled out to 40,000 users across more than 100 countries, according to the company. Solayer said the new physical card expands the existing Solayer Pay platform, which supports storing, transferring and spending digital assets through Visa-linked payment infrastructure.

The company said the card enables users to spend USDC (USDC) balances globally through Visa payment infrastructure directly from their Solayer Pay accounts.

Advertisement

Solayer develops infiniSVM, a layer-1 network compatible with the Solana Virtual Machine that is designed for high-throughput onchain applications using Solana (SOL) for gas fees.

Related: Dartmouth endowment invests in Solana ETF, holds $14M in crypto exposure

Stablecoin payment cards expand

The launch from Solayer comes as rypto and payments companies have increasingly launched stablecoin-linked payment cards tied to traditional card networks including Visa and Mastercard.

In January, crypto exchange OKX launched a Mastercard-linked payment card for European users through regulated issuer Monavate, allowing verified customers to spend stablecoins, including USDC and Paxos’ Global Dollar (USDG).

Advertisement

The following month, MetaMask expanded its Mastercard-linked crypto payment card across the United States, including New York for the first time, allowing users to spend digital assets directly from self-custodial wallets.

In March, Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge expanded their stablecoin-linked card program to 18 countries and said they planned to roll out the product across more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. The companies also began testing stablecoin settlement through Visa’s pilot program.

The same month, Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion. BVNK provides infrastructure for businesses to send and receive stablecoin payments across blockchain networks in more than 130 countries.

Data from DefiLlama shows the stablecoin market has grown from about $243.3 billion in May 2025 to around $322.5 billion today, an increase of about $79 billion.

Advertisement

Tether remains the dominant stablecoin issuer, with its USDt (USDT) commanding a market capitalization of about $189.7 billion, representing around 58.8% of the total stablecoin market, while Circle’s USDC ranks second with a market capitalization of about $76.7 billion.

Source: DefiLlama

Magazine: eToro founder timed Bitcoin top perfectly due to belief in 4 year cycles

Source link

Crypto investigator ZachXBT has accused the team behind LAB of using opaque OTC deals, insider-controlled supply, coordinated market-making activity, and hidden unlock structures to drive the token’s recent rise to a nearly $6 billion fully diluted valuation.

In his latest post on X, ZachXBT claimed LAB represents “everything wrong” with the current centralized exchange token environment, where retail investors allegedly have little visibility into token allocations and insider agreements. The LAB token crashed by over 30% in 24 hours.

LAB Faces Fresh Scrutiny

According to the investigator, LAB was launched in October 2025 by Vova Sadkov and Mark after their previous project, Eesee (ESE), reportedly left many investors dissatisfied once the team moved on. He explained that there is still no clear public breakdown of LAB’s token distribution, as CoinGecko, RootData, and CoinMarketCap all display different circulating supply figures, while LAB’s own documents reportedly provide no detailed allocation data.

ZachXBT said his on-chain analysis indicates insiders likely control more than 95% of the token supply. He also alleged that the LAB team unilaterally changed vesting conditions for Legion public sale participants from a three-month cliff to a nine-month cliff, as he cited an email screenshot shared by a user.

Separate complaints from creators who claimed they were still waiting for marketing payouts months later were also mentioned in the findings. ZachXBT also shared details from a draft private loan contract tied to The Lab Management Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company allegedly connected to Vladimir Sadkov.

The agreement reportedly offered loans with 7.5% monthly interest over six months, with repayment in LAB tokens at market price in the event of default. The wallet connected to the contract was allegedly later used for public LAB buybacks and linked on-chain to another wallet involved in a separate Wildcat loan.

Hidden OTC Deals and Insider Activity

ZachXBT also claimed LAB-related funds were sent to exchange accounts allegedly linked to Sadkov, which had earlier received deposits connected to Eesee. The investigator even went on to allege that several OTC and loan arrangements had been privately offered since January 2026.

According to screenshots and claims shared in the post, some deals included 60% discounted OTC allocations with lockups, guaranteed discount structures recalculated monthly, and influencer-focused allocations with discounts reaching as high as 80%. Some agreements purportedly required influencers to publicly support LAB before their tokens unlocked.

These hidden arrangements created supply risks that retail traders could not track publicly, according to ZachXBT. He also linked one signer associated with LAB multisig wallets to an insider believed to be connected to earlier RIVER token manipulation activity.

As per the findings, insiders deposited 226 million LAB tokens into Bitget-linked addresses between March and April 2026 before roughly 100 million LAB tokens were withdrawn between May 11 and 12 to ten separate wallets. ZachXBT said most LAB spot activity appeared concentrated on Bitget, while Binance and Gate were also used for derivatives and Alpha markets. He called on exchanges including Bitget, Binance, and Gate to freeze alleged insider profits or delist the token altogether.

ZachXBT had raised similar concerns around the SIREN token earlier this year after the asset surged from around $0.40 on March 10 to an all-time high of $3.65 by March 22 before eventually collapsing to $0.53.

The post ZachXBT’s Explosive Claims Send LAB Tumbling Over 30% in One Day appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Source link

This Friday, we examine Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid in greater detail.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum has been hovering just below the $2,400 resistance for over four weeks. With bulls unable to break this level, the price has entered a correction. At the time of this post, ETH is found at around $2,270 and is at a similar price to last week.

Since late April, the momentum on Ethereum has turned bearish on the daily timeframe, and the price appears to be catching up with clear lower highs.

Looking ahead, ETH has formed a large bearish channel with the lower limit at around $2,200. If that level is lost in the near future, then this cryptocurrency is likely to fall to $2,000 next.

Ripple (XRP)

XRP had a good week, closing 6% higher. This comes after the price managed to break out of the blue pennant and rushed towards $1.5. With bulls in control, this cryptocurrency has a real chance to test the key $1.6 resistance next.

As long as the price holds above the pennant, the bias remains bullish. Should the price fall back within the pennant, that would be interpreted as a bearish signal. Right now, the most important support is found at $1.4.

Looking ahead, XRP has been making higher lows and higher highs since April, and the buy volume is increasing. These are bullish signals that will be confirmed once $1.6 becomes support.

Cardano (ADA)

ADA is up 3% this week and has attempted to break the $0.28 resistance. However, sellers returned there to stop the rally, and the price entered into a pullback.

Even if the breakout did not materialize on this first try, it is a major change in price action that finally signals it wants to move higher. Should sellers continue to dominate, ADA could test the $0.25 support.

Looking ahead, this recent rally could suggest Cardano has bottomed around the $0.24 support level. If so, buyers will likely aim to send this cryptocurrency higher, even if it takes them more time. Key resistance levels are found at $0.28 and $0.30.

Binance Coin (BNB)

BNB closed the week 6% higher. This has allowed the price to arrive at the $690 key resistance. At the time of this post, bulls and bears are contesting this level. While momentum favors buyers, it needs higher buying volume to succeed.

Since this cryptocurrency found support at $580, the price has been in a steady uptrend, with daily gains. However, the current resistance may put a stop to this trend.

Looking ahead, Binance Coin needs to break above $690 to end its long consolidation that began in February. The price has been bouncing between $580 and $690 with no clear winners to date.

Hype (HYPE)

HYPE rallied 20% in the past 24h on the news that the USDC sitting on Hyperliquid will use a majority of its native yield to purchase HYPE. This comes after a trilateral agreement among Hyperliquid, Circle, and Coinbase to make USDC the exchange’s native stablecoin.

This development will increase the size of HYPE buybacks, as USDC will provide additional liquidity. In light of that, the price quickly rallied in anticipation of additional buying pressure.

Looking ahead, even if HYPE had a fantastic rally, the price failed to re-enter the blue wedge. For this reason, this could be interpreted as a bearish re-test. Losing the support at $43 would confirm this bias.

The post Crypto Price Analysis May-15: ETH, XRP, ADA, BNB, and HYPE appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Source link

Bitwise Asset Management has launched a US-listed investment product tied to Hyperliquid, offering investors spot exposure to the token and staking rewards linked to the decentralized derivatives platform.

The fund, trading under the ticker BHYP on the New York Stock Exchange, is the second US-listed Hyperliquid product to launch this week. Bitwise said the fund plans to stake a significant portion of its HYPE (HYPE) holdings through its in-house staking division.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized trading-focused layer 1 blockchain launched in 2023 that offers perpetual futures, spot trading and lending services. Bitwise said the platform processed about $2.9 trillion in trading volume in 2025 and accounted for roughly 60% of global onchain derivatives open interest as of May 5, citing DefiLlama data.

HYPE was trading at around $44 on Friday with a market capitalization of roughly $11.22 billion, making it the 10th-largest cryptocurrency by market value, according to CoinMarketCap data. The token is used for staking, governance and ecosystem participation.

Advertisement

Bitwise, which manages about $11 billion in client assets across crypto investment products including exchange-traded funds, private funds and staking strategies, said the fund will charge a 0.34% sponsor fee, which will be waived for the first month on the fund’s first $500 million in assets.

HYPE token price. Source: CoinGecko

Related: Wells Fargo lifts Ether ETF holdings in Q1 as Bitcoin positions shift

Hyperliquid draws growing institutional interest

The launch comes as institutional interest in Hyperliquid and HYPE-linked investment products expands across crypto asset managers, venture capital firms and trading platforms.

Earlier this week, 21Shares launched its THYP Hyperliquid fund in the US, drawing about $1.2 million in net inflows and $1.8 million in trading volume on its first trading day, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. Grayscale Investments is also awaiting a decision on its proposed Hyperliquid fund.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, onchain analytics account Lookonchain said wallets linked to venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz had accumulated about $67 million worth of HYPE over the previous month and staked roughly $51 million worth of the token.

Source: Lookonchain

The following day, Coinbase announced it would become the official treasury deployer for USDC (USDC) on Hyperliquid, where the stablecoin’s supply has grown to around $5 billion since the network launched in 2023, according to DeFiLlama data.

As Hyperliquid gains traction as a decentralized derivatives exchange, centralized crypto companies have also expanded deeper into perpetual futures and offshore derivatives markets through new trading products and international launches.

Earlier this year, Coinbase launched stock perpetual futures for eligible non-US users, while Kraken rolled out tokenized equity perpetual futures tied to assets including Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) for offshore clients.

Advertisement

Magazine: ETH stalls at $2.4K five times, SOL to rally to $120: Market Moves

Source link

Key Takeaways

• TD Cowen doubled its price target on Marvell (MRVL) to $180 from $90, maintaining a Hold rating on the semiconductor stock.
• The stock has surged over 100% in a three-month period, driven primarily by bullish forward earnings expectations.
• Company leadership forecasts optics segment expansion exceeding 50% across the next 24 months.
• Both RBC Capital and BofA Securities established $200 price objectives, emphasizing AI networking infrastructure and optical technology capabilities.
• The company completed its acquisition of Swiss photonics specialist Polariton Technologies to expand its optical interconnect capabilities.

---

The semiconductor giant Marvell Technology has delivered exceptional performance that’s capturing significant Wall Street attention. Over the past half-year, the company’s shares have skyrocketed 111%, with 2024 year-to-date performance exceeding 115%. As Thursday’s trading began, shares hovered near their recent peak levels.

Marvell Technology, Inc., MRVL

On Thursday, Joshua Buchalter from TD Cowen elevated his MRVL price objective to $180 from the previous $90 mark, pointing to sustained momentum within the optical infrastructure sector. The analyst retained his Hold recommendation.

Buchalter offered a measured perspective on the recent rally. He noted that the stock’s dramatic appreciation may have incorporated considerable future optimism, potentially raising expectations ahead of Marvell’s May 27 earnings announcement.

The topic of custom XPU exposure continues to generate investor debate, though TD Cowen anticipates limited new information on this subject during the forthcoming earnings discussion.

Even while keeping its Hold stance, TD Cowen elevated its long-term data center projections. The firm now anticipates $1.3 trillion in data center silicon expenditure by decade’s end, representing an increase from its previous $1.2 trillion forecast.

Advertisement

Optical Technology Segment Powers Confidence

The upward revision in forecasts connects directly to what Cowen describes as a “bifurcation within the infrastructure trade.” Major accelerator manufacturers have experienced relative weakness lately, whereas optical-focused companies like Marvell have gained ground amid expectations of imminent supply constraints.

Marvell leadership has communicated expectations for optics segment growth surpassing 50% during the upcoming two-year period. This projection has become a cornerstone of analyst bullishness throughout the investment community.

RBC Capital elevated its MRVL price objective to $200 while keeping its Outperform designation. The investment bank emphasized robust performance in Marvell’s optical division and AWS chip manufacturing as primary catalysts.

BofA Securities similarly established a $200 benchmark, underscoring the growing AI networking infrastructure marketplace.

Advertisement

Strategic Acquisition Strengthens Portfolio

Marvell recently finalized its purchase of Polariton Technologies, a Swiss firm specializing in plasmonics-enabled silicon photonics solutions. This transaction is projected to enhance Marvell’s optical technology capabilities, particularly for coherent optics and data center interconnect uses.

The acquisition aligns with Marvell’s broader strategic initiative to establish itself as a critical player in the AI data center infrastructure ecosystem, especially as demand intensifies for high-performance optical interconnect solutions.

According to InvestingPro analysis, MRVL currently appears overvalued compared to its Fair Value calculation, earning placement on the platform’s Most Overvalued securities roster.

Marvell is set to report quarterly results on May 27. Market participants will closely scrutinize commentary regarding the optics business outlook and any developments concerning custom XPU initiatives.

Advertisement

Source link