Author: Tristan Lodenberg

South Korean prosecutors have regained control of approximately $21.4 million worth of bitcoin that was stolen from government custody last year. The recovered amount totals 320.8 BTC, which was transferred back to an official wallet earlier this week after authorities restricted the attacker’s ability to move funds through centralized exchanges. The bitcoin had originally been seized during a raid on an illegal gambling platform. However, an internal review later revealed that investigators inadvertently exposed recovery seed phrases after accessing a phishing website in August, allowing the assets to be drained from custody. Nationwide Review of Seized Digital Asset Security Following…

Governance participants at Uniswap are voting on a proposal that could significantly broaden protocol fee collection across its ecosystem. The measure seeks to activate protocol fees on all remaining v3 liquidity pools on Ethereum mainnet while extending fee mechanisms to eight additional networks, including Arbitrum, Base, Celo, OP Mainnet, Soneium, X Layer, Worldchain and Zora. If approved, the change would shift Uniswap’s fee structure from a selectively managed list of pools to automatic activation across every v3 pool based on liquidity provider fee tiers. The move represents a structural evolution in how the decentralized exchange captures and distributes value. UNIfication…

Leading Wall Street firms expanded their positions in Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) during the fourth quarter of 2025, even as the broader crypto market faced heavy selling pressure and the company’s stock price declined sharply. Morgan Stanley, the largest reported shareholder raised its stake by approximately 26% to more than 12.1 million shares, valued at around $331 million at the end of the quarter, according to its latest regulatory filing. ARK Investment Management also increased its holdings by roughly 27%, bringing its position to over 9.4 million shares worth about $256 million. Other major financial institutions followed suit. BlackRock significantly…

The United Arab Emirates has quietly emerged as a significant state linked bitcoin miner, with holdings now valued at approximately $453.6 million. On chain data from Arkham indicates that operations connected to Abu Dhabi’s royal network control around 6,782 BTC, representing roughly 0.03% of bitcoin’s total circulating supply. Based on current market prices, the position reflects about $344 million in unrealized profit, excluding energy and operational costs. Mining output has remained steady, averaging 4.2 BTC per day over the past week. Large scale activity in the country accelerated in 2022, when Abu Dhabi based entities began expanding industrial mining infrastructure,…

Crypto lending platform Ledn has completed a landmark $188 million securitization tied to Bitcoin-backed consumer loans, marking one of the first times such exposure has entered the traditional asset backed securities (ABS) market. The transaction was executed through Ledn Issuer Trust 2026-1 and packaged 5,441 short-term, fixed-rate balloon loans issued to 2,914 US borrowers. The loans are secured by 4,078.87 BTC held as collateral. Rather than owning Bitcoin directly, investors gain exposure to the credit performance of these loans, including repayment behavior and collateral liquidation processes during market volatility. Structure and Credit Ratings of the Bitcoin Loan Bonds The securitization…

Minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve indicate that policymakers are again weighing the possibility of interest rate increases as inflation pressures remain elevated. Notes from the late January session of the Federal Open Market Committee show that several officials believe upward adjustments to the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation fails to move convincingly toward the 2% target. At the meeting, the central bank voted to keep rates unchanged in a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, following three rate cuts in late 2025 that brought borrowing costs down from 4.5%. While no immediate hike…

Trading platform Robinhood has reported strong early activity on its new Ethereum Layer 2 network, with CEO Vlad Tenev confirming that the public testnet processed four million transactions within its first week. The network, known as Robinhood Chain, is built as a Layer 2 on Ethereum using Arbitrum technology. It is designed to support tokenized real-world assets, including equities and exchange-traded funds, alongside broader onchain financial services. The project underwent six months of private testing before opening access to developers last week. Focus on Tokenized Assets and Onchain Finance Robinhood Chain is positioned as a permissionless blockchain aimed at high…

Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged US financial authorities to avoid using taxpayer funds to stabilize the cryptocurrency market following a sharp decline in Bitcoin prices. In a letter addressed to Scott Bessent and Jerome Powell, the Massachusetts lawmaker warned that any federal bailout of the crypto sector would primarily benefit wealthy investors and industry insiders. Her comments come as Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% from its October peak, recently touching a local low near $60,000. Warren argued that government action to support digital asset prices would be deeply unpopular and could shift financial risk from private investors to American…

U.S. spot exchange traded funds tied to Bitcoin posted $133.3 million in net outflows on Feb. 18, signaling a pullback in institutional positioning. The largest redemptions came from iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which saw $84.2 million exit the fund, followed by Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) with $49 million in outflows. Despite the daily withdrawals, total net assets across U.S. bitcoin spot ETFs remain substantial at $83.6 billion, representing roughly 6.3% of Bitcoin’s overall market capitalization. Recent flow trends, however, suggest some institutions are trimming exposure rather than accumulating during price weakness. Ethereum Spot ETFs Lose $41.8 Million Spot…

Spot exchange traded funds tied to Solana recorded $2.4 million in net inflows, defying a broader pullback across major crypto investment products. The fresh capital lifted cumulative inflows into US listed SOL spot ETFs to nearly $880 million, signaling continued investor interest despite macroeconomic uncertainty. The move stands in contrast to recent outflows from products linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum, where investors have adopted a more cautious stance amid shifting rate expectations and global risk-off sentiment. Bitwise BSOL Leads Fresh Capital Allocation Among the available products, Bitwise Solana ETF (BSOL) led the latest inflows, attracting $1.5 million in new capital.…