Russia’s financial-intelligence agency is gaining sweeping authority to monitor cryptocurrency transactions above 60,000 rubles, requiring exchanges and banks to report detailed personal data on both parties. The move brings a functioning parallel payments infrastructure—with daily volumes exceeding $600 million—under state surveillance for the first time.
A user lost $999,999 in USDT after approving a malicious ERC-20 token contract, demonstrating how attackers exploit Ethereum’s legitimate approval mechanism. The attacker’s automated script recalculated available balance after the first attempt failed, draining the wallet completely in 36 seconds using bundled transactions to minimize reaction time.
Blockchain analyst Specter alleges CodexField, a BNB Greenfield-based code platform, is executing a rug pull with $85 million in user funds across multiple wallets. The investigation tracks suspicious fund movements, including $17.3 million in USDT swapped to DAI, with $10.8 million unaccounted for.
The Senate votes on the Clarity Act as early as July 14, but the CFTC—which would oversee a $2.2 trillion digital commodity market—has only one commissioner, a staff reduced by over 20%, and no confirmed path to full capacity before the vote.
New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted 3-2 to reject a $100 million municipal bond program that would have used Bitcoin as collateral, killing what would have been the nation’s first deal of its kind. The vote came after months of development by Governor Kelly Ayotte and state finance officials, with concerns focused more on political optics than the deal’s financial structure.
Sony Bank received conditional OCC approval to establish Connectia Trust, a $40 million national trust bank subsidiary dedicated solely to stablecoin issuance. This move positions Sony as the direct “issuer of record,” giving it full regulatory control and income from reserve assets rather than operating under a third-party license.
South Korea’s antitrust regulator approved Mirae Asset Consulting’s acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange Korbit for $97.9 million, marking the first time a major financial conglomerate’s subsidiary has owned a licensed crypto exchange in the country. The deal circumvented banking regulations by routing ownership through a non-financial entity, a structure the regulator approved based on Korbit’s minimal market share.
A DOJ memo warns that Binance may begin adding conditions to freeze or seize customer assets for law enforcement, disrupting prosecutors’ reliance on the exchange’s direct cooperation. Binance disputes the characterization, attributing the confusion to DOJ misunderstanding its Abu Dhabi Global Market license obligations that took effect in January 2026.
Federal courts remain split on whether commodity law preempts state gambling restrictions on prediction markets. A Manhattan judge just denied Kalshi’s bid to overturn New York’s gambling laws, finding the state’s consumer protection interests outweigh the platform’s preemption arguments.
Sen. Ron Wyden is pushing to keep Section 604 of the Clarity Act intact, which would shield software developers from money transmitter classification. Law enforcement coalitions representing 70,000+ prosecutors and police officers are pushing back, arguing the exemption could enable illicit money movement.