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XRP leads bitcoin and ether on weekly gains, but muted volume keeps breakout in check

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XRP leads bitcoin and ether on weekly gains, but muted volume keeps breakout in check

XRP is quietly outperforming the market, but it still hasn’t done enough to break out. The move higher looks steady rather than aggressive, which points to accumulation, but without stronger volume, it’s not a convincing shift yet.

News Background

• XRP is the top weekly performer among major cryptocurrencies, gaining around 6.4% and outperforming bitcoin, ethereum, and BNB over the same period.

• The move comes as broader crypto markets remain mixed, with capital rotating selectively into higher-beta assets rather than driving a full market-wide rally.

Price Action Summary

• XRP climbed to around $1.43, holding a steady upward structure across the week.
• The move developed gradually, with no sharp spikes, indicating controlled accumulation rather than speculative momentum.
• Price remains capped below the $1.44 resistance zone despite multiple attempts to break higher.

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Technical Analysis

• The key signal is relative strength. XRP is outperforming peers even without strong volume support.
• Volume remains subdued at roughly 70% of its weekly average, which limits conviction behind the move.
• The structure shows higher lows, but resistance continues to absorb upside near $1.44.
• This combination typically signals consolidation rather than a confirmed breakout.

What traders should watch

• $1.44 remains the key resistance. A clean break is needed to validate upside continuation.
• $1.40 acts as near-term support. Holding above it keeps the structure intact.
• Continued low volume risks a pullback, especially if broader market momentum fades.

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South Korea to trial tokenized bank deposits for government operational spending

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South Korea to trial tokenized bank deposits for government operational spending

South Korea is moving toward a more transparent public ledger by testing tokenized deposits for day-to-day government spending in a new regulatory sandbox trial.

Summary

  • South Korea will launch a blockchain-based pilot in Sejong City to handle daily government operational spending through tokenized deposits.
  • The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to replace traditional government credit cards with programmable digital payments that feature predefined limits on timing and usage categories.
  • The initiative targets a full rollout by the final quarter of 2026 and forms part of a strategy to digitize one-quarter of all treasury fund executions by 2030.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), the government has selected a pilot project that uses blockchain-based deposits to handle operational expenses, with a full rollout scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. 

This initiative will initially launch in Sejong City, replacing the current system where officials use government-issued credit and debit cards for official business. 

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Unlike traditional payments that rely on post-use reporting to catch errors, this digital framework allows authorities to pre-set spending conditions, such as specific time windows and permitted categories, to ensure funds are used exactly as intended.

These tokenized deposits act as digital versions of standard bank deposits held on a distributed ledger. Because they remain liabilities of participating commercial banks and operate within existing financial systems, they offer more stability than private stablecoins.

The MOEF confirmed that nine major banks—including KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana—are participating in the experiment to issue and manage these tokens. This infrastructure effectively links the government’s Digital Budget and Accounting System (dBrain) with the blockchain, creating a traceable path for every won spent.

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By moving beyond one-off subsidies and into recurring operational costs, the ministry expects to see a significant reduction in the misuse of public funds and a decrease in settlement times.

The sandbox environment provides a legal carve-out for this trial, as current regulations typically mandate that such expenses be processed through specific physical cards. 

Moving to a programmable system allows for a level of oversight that traditional banking cannot match, potentially lowering transaction fees for small businesses receiving government payments by removing traditional card network intermediaries.

“The trial will serve as a basis for evaluating new payment and settlement methods, with potential implications for fiscal operations if the model proves viable,” the ministry stated.

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Integrating distributed ledger technology (DLT) aligns with a long-term strategy to digitize South Korea’s treasury. The MOEF previously disclosed a target to convert 25% of all treasury fund executions to digital currency by 2030. 

Success in Sejong City will likely lead to legislative updates intended to scale this model across all branches of the national government.

The initiative builds on a previous project launched in March involving the Environment Ministry and the Bank of Korea, which utilized tokenized deposits to manage 30 billion won in subsidies for electric vehicle charging stations.

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Houston Man Sentenced to 23 Years Over Fake Gold- and Art-Backed Crypto Scheme

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Houston Man Sentenced to 23 Years Over Fake Gold- and Art-Backed Crypto Scheme

A Texas man received a 23-year federal prison sentence for running a crypto scam. The fraud drained nearly 1,000 investors of more than $20 million through a sham asset-backed token.

Robert Dunlap, 55, of Houston, sold a digital asset called Meta-1 Coin from 2018 to 2023. Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois led the case.

How the Meta-1 Coin Crypto Scam worked

According to the press release, Dunlap built his pitch around fabricated reserves. He told investors that Meta-1 Coin was backed by up to $1 billion in art. The collection supposedly included works attributed to Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, and others.

He also claimed roughly $44 billion in gold stood behind the token. An accounting firm had audited and certified the bullion, Dunlap falsely told buyers.

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“Defendant lied to investors for years telling them that he had created a safe investment for them. Over the years, defendant was unrepentant and his lies became bigger. Would-be criminals planning to engage in similar conduct need to know that such actions will be met with a serious repercussion that includes loss of one’s liberty for an extended period of time,” Assistant US Attorneys Jared Hasten and Paige Nutini argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

A federal jury convicted Dunlap on two counts of mail fraud in November 2025. US District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt handed down the 23-year sentence this week. She also ordered restitution for fraud victims, many of whom reported losing their life savings.

US Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and special agents from the FBI’s Chicago Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced the sentence. They received assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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The post Houston Man Sentenced to 23 Years Over Fake Gold- and Art-Backed Crypto Scheme appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Ketman Project Identifies 100 North Korean IT Workers Working in Web3

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Ketman Project Identifies 100 North Korean IT Workers Working in Web3

The Ketman Project, funded by an Ethereum Foundation stipend, identified 100 North Korean IT workers and alerted about 53 projects employing DPRK operatives.

The Ethereum Foundation said it funded a six-month project that exposed 100 North Korean operatives who had infiltrated Web3 companies under fake identities.

The foundation on Thursday shared a recap of its ETH Rangers program, which was launched in late 2024 to provide “stipends for individuals doing public goods security work” within the ecosystem.

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One of the recipients used the capital to build the Ketman Project to focus on investigating “fake developers” embedded within crypto, particularly operatives from the People’s Republic of Korea.

During the six-month stipend period, the Ketman Project identified “100 different DPRK IT workers operating within Web3 organizations” and reached out to about 53 projects to alert them about having potentially employed active DPRK operatives.

“This work directly addresses one of the most pressing operational security threats facing the Ethereum ecosystem today,” the Ethereum Foundation said.

North Korean operatives have been plaguing the crypto sector, leading to billions worth of crypto stolen over the years. One of the highest-profile hacking groups from North Korea is known as the Lazarus Group.

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Ketman Project website articles on DPRK operatives. Source: Ketman Project

The Ethereum Foundation did not go into detail about how the Ketman Project was able to identify the DPRK operatives. However, the project’s website has an extensive range of articles explaining the types of “tactics, behaviors and operational patterns” the operatives deploy.

Related: CIA to integrate AI ‘co-workers’ to process intelligence, catch spies

They include technical red flags such as reusing avatars and profile metadata across multiple GitHub accounts, exposing unlinked email addresses during accidental screen sharing, and displaying default language settings, such as Russian, that contradict their claimed nationality.

Alongside identifying North Korean operatives, the Ketman Project also developed an open-source detection tool to identify suspicious GitHub activity and co-authored an industry-standard framework for identifying DPRK IT workers in partnership with blockchain-focused nonprofit organization the Security Alliance.

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