Tag: Crypto

Crypto surges on Iran de-escalation hopes, but conflicting reports add uncertainty

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Geopolitics gave crypto traders whiplash on Monday. Bitcoin surged nearly 6% in a matter of hours on hopes that US-Iran tensions were cooling, only for the foundational claim behind that rally to get publicly disputed by Iran itself. The result is a market trading near session highs on a narrative that may or may not be real. Which, if we’re being honest, is kind of crypto’s whole thing. The rally, the claim, and the denial Here’s the sequence. President Trump posted that the US and Iran had held “very good…

How a ‘Wrong Number’ Message Turned Into a $3.4M Crypto Scam

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Key takeaways This $3.4 million scam shows how modern crypto fraud increasingly relies on social engineering rather than technical exploits. Scammers used a gradual grooming process, engaging victims in friendly conversations over time to build emotional trust before introducing any financial discussion. It closely resembled the pig-butchering model. The investment pitch combined Ether’s growth potential with the perceived stability of gold. This created a compelling but fraudulent narrative that convinced victims they were gaining access to an exclusive, low-risk opportunity. Victims were told to buy Ether themselves on legitimate platforms…

ZachXBT Exposes Fake Accounts Driving Crypto Scams on X

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Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT said Monday he uncovered a coordinated network of accounts on X using exaggerated or fake war and geopolitical posts to lure users into crypto scams. The investigation identified more than 10 linked X accounts allegedly purchased with follower bases that pushed sensational content and scam links, according to an X thread and screenshots shared by ZachXBT. The fake accounts used AI to impersonate prominent social media influencers such as Mario Nawfal, flooding X with “doomposts” and driving engagement before promoting fake crypto giveaways and pump-and-dump token schemes.…

Crypto, Stocks Slip on Iran and Trump Threats

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Crypto and the wider markets tumbled on Monday as the US and Iran escalated threats toward one another for the fourth week, sending oil prices seesawing.  US President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants, “starting with the biggest one first,” if the country didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Iran responded by saying it will answer any US strikes on its power or water infrastructure with attacks on US and Israeli assets in the Gulf…

AI Agents Could End Web Advertising, says a16z Crypto

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Autonomous AI agent commerce could mean the end of online advertising as it is currently known today and shift the internet’s economic model, according to a16z Crypto. Since the dawn of the internet, buying goods or services typically involves navigating to online stores (some through online advertisements). However, Merit Systems co-founder Sam Ragsdale argues this could change if AI agents do the shopping in the future.  From 1997 to 2024, the business model for the internet was “distraction,” said Ragsdale in an a16z blog post on Sunday. “Humans reading a…

NYSE Exchanges Remove Cap Limiting Crypto Options

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Two New York Stock Exchange-affiliated exchanges have removed the 25,000 contract position limit on options tied to 11 crypto exchange-traded funds. NYSE Arca and NYSE American each filed three rule changes in the Federal Register on March 10 to remove contract position limits and price discovery restrictions for options linked to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs listed on their exchanges. These were acknowledged by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Sunday, with the SEC waiving the standard 30-day waiting period for both sets of proposed rule changes, meaning they…

Hawk Tuah Girl Warns Others To Stay Clear of Crypto in Latest Interview

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Hailey Welch, the online social media influencer, popularly known as the “Hawk Tuah girl,” said that the implosion of the “HAWK” memecoin, which she promoted in 2024, and the ensuing social backlash “traumatized” her. “I got talked into doing something that I didn’t know anything about, really, but you’ve got to be really careful what you put your name on,” Welsh told Andrew Callaghan of the Channel 5 YouTube channel on Friday. Welsh said she fully cooperated with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe in 2025, which cleared her…

CFTC Staff Share FAQ on Crypto Collateral

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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has given more details on its expectations for the use of crypto as collateral amid a pilot program that the agency launched last year. In a notice on Friday, the CFTC’s Market Participants Division and Division of Clearing and Risk responded to frequently asked questions that emerged from two staff letters issued in December that established a pilot allowing crypto to be used as collateral in derivatives markets. The notice reminded futures commission merchants wanting to take part in the pilot that they must…

Brazil’s New Finance Minister Puts Crypto Tax Policy on Pause: Report

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Brazil’s Finance Minister, Dario Durigan, is putting crypto tax policy on the back burner until after the country’s presidential elections in October 2026 to avoid pushing for “divisive” tax changes during an election year.  Regulators and government officials originally slated a public consultation on crypto tax policy for later this year, which may be delayed until 2027, but still “remains on the radar,” sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Brazil ended its no tax policy on gains from smaller cryptocurrency sales or transfers in June 2025, shifting to a…

SEC Crypto Guidance Is a Major Step, but More Is Needed: Analyst

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The recent guidance from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission establishing a taxonomy for digital assets put a “final nail” in the coffin of SEC policy under former Chairman Gary Gensler, according to Alex Thorn, the head of firmwide research at investment firm Galaxy. The SEC guidance, published on Tuesday, established a taxonomy for digital assets, dividing them into five categories, including digital commodities, digital collectibles like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital tools, stablecoins, and tokenized securities.  The SEC guidance published on Tuesday…