Tag: Crypto

Iran is Weighing Crypto Tolls for Ships using Strait of Hormuz: Report

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Hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran and the United States had agreed to a two-week ceasefire that included opening the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian authorities are reportedly considering charging ships using the waterway in cryptocurrency. According to a Wednesday Financial Times report, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union said empty oil tankers will be able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without incurring charges, but certain ships will need to pay a tariff of $1 per barrel of oil in Bitcoin…

Iran demands Bitcoin, crypto payments for Strait of Hormuz passage: FT

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Iran demands Bitcoin payments for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union told the Financial Times. The toll, about $1 per barrel, must be paid in crypto after tankers submit details of their cargo. Empty vessels are exempt, but all ships will be monitored to prevent weapons smuggling during the two-week ceasefire. Iran plans to guide ships along the northern route near its coast, and vessels that ignore the rules face warnings of military strikes. The process…

South Korea Tightens Crypto Withdrawal Delay Exemptions

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South Korea’s financial regulator said it will tighten the exception rules under crypto exchanges’ withdrawal-delay system after finding that scam-linked accounts granted exemptions accounted for most voice-phishing-related losses.  The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Wednesday that the strengthened framework, developed with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), will impose unified standards on when users can bypass withdrawal delays.  The regulator said exchanges had been applying their own exception criteria with no clear minimum standard, creating loopholes that let bad actors quickly move funds if…

Thailand SEC Seeks to Expand Crypto Shareholder Approval Rules

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Thailand’s securities regulator is seeking to curb money laundering and technology-related crimes by tightening funding rules for cryptocurrency companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (Thai SEC) on Monday proposed expanding approval requirements for crypto businesses to include financiers behind major shareholders. Under the proposal, any person providing backing or financial support to major shareholders would itself be treated as a shareholder requiring regulatory approval from the regulator. The move aims to tighten oversight of hidden capital flows and ensure that business operators are funded from legitimate sources, rather…

SEC Says Some Crypto Enforcement Cases Lacked Investor Benefit

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Some past enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies lacked clear investor benefit and misinterpreted federal securities laws, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday.  Since the 2022 fiscal year, the SEC brought 95 actions and $2.3 billion in penalties for “book-and-record violations,” it said in a statement about its enforcement results for 2025.  “Together with seven crypto firm registration-related and six ‘definition of a dealer’ cases, these cases identified no direct investor harm from those violations, produced no investor benefit or protection.”  It also reflected a “bias for…

Americans Lost $11B to Crypto Scams in 2025, Says FBI

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According to the bureau, a large number of minors aged 17 and younger were included in complaints related to crypto or crypto ATMs, resulting in more than $5 million in losses. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that Americans’ losses from crypto-related scams increased to more than $11 million in 2025. In its annual internet crime complaint report released on Monday, the FBI said that cryptocurrency and AI-related scams were “among the costliest” for Americans in 2025, with 181,565 complaints totaling more than $11 billion. According to the…

Split Capital Founder Says Crypto Hedge Funds No Longer Work

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Split Capital, a digital asset hedge fund founded by investor Zaheer Ebtikar, is shutting down, with the founder joining Peter Thiel-backed stablecoin startup Plasma. Ebtikar announced the news in an X post on Tuesday, saying Split Capital was profitable both in 2024 and 2025, and delivered over 100% in returns. “We were a top performing fund by every mark,” Ebtikar claimed, adding that his decision to wind down the business was driven by a belief that the crypto market had shifted away from strategies that hedge funds are designed to…

CME Group to add Avalanche and Sui futures to its crypto derivatives on May 4

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CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, plans to launch futures contracts for Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) on May 4, pending regulatory approval, according to a new announcement. The move brings two more layer 1 blockchain assets into regulated derivatives trading, joining a roster that already includes Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar. Avalanche, the high-throughput smart contract platform built by Ava Labs, and Sui, the Move-based blockchain developed by former Meta engineers at Mysten Labs, will each get both full-sized and micro-sized contracts. The full AVAX…

South Korea Tightens Crypto Rules with 5-minute Asset Verification Mandate

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South Korea has ordered all crypto exchanges to reconcile their internal ledgers with actual asset holdings every five minutes after an inspection uncovered weaknesses in internal controls. The directive was announced on Monday by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) after a meeting with top crypto exchanges and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), during which they discussed the findings of an emergency inspection triggered by the Bithumb payout incident. The inspection found that three of the country’s five major exchanges were reconciling balances only once every 24 hours, limiting their…

Operation Atlantic Targets Crypto Scam Networks With Real-Time Tracking

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Operation Atlantic: A proactive strike against evolving crypto scams Crypto scams have become highly sophisticated cross-border operations that exploit advanced technology and human psychology. By the time victims become aware of the fraud, the stolen cryptocurrency is often rapidly dispersed across a chain of wallets and exchanges in multiple countries. Operation Atlantic represents a coordinated international effort by law enforcement agencies from the US, the UK and Canada to counter this threat. Rather than limiting itself to post-incident investigations, the operation focuses on identifying, tracking and disrupting crypto scams while…