Telegram Shuts Down $27B Cyber Scam Marketplace

Movement Labs, backed by Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial, allocated large token stakes to early insiders without disclosing the deals, raising questions about the project's power dynamics. The agreements with advisers, including Thapaliya and Parekh, were not disclosed to investors but were crucial in shaping Movement's trajectory.

0x, a decentralized exchange infrastructure firm, acquired rival Flood to enhance its competitiveness in the DEX aggregation market. Flood's proprietary software impressed 0x, leading to a complete rewrite of their technology stack for improved performance.

Top cryptocurrencies saw a pullback on Thursday, with Bitcoin dropping to $101,500, signaling a delay in reaching all-time highs. Altcoins like Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin also experienced sell-offs, while the stock market's risk appetite cooled due to the Federal Reserve's interest rate adjustments.

Coinbase refused to pay $20 million in Bitcoin to cybercriminals who attempted to extort the company over stolen customer data. Instead, the exchange is offering a $20 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of the attackers.

Research from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime reveals an increase in criminal use of cryptocurrency in Western Balkan nations like Albania and Serbia. The region faces challenges in seizing illicitly sourced crypto, with limited documented cases of asset seizures to date.

A new partnership between Mastercard and a crypto company, MoonPay, will enable users and businesses to conduct transactions using stablecoins globally. The collaboration leverages infrastructure from Iron, a stablecoin payment firm acquired by MoonPay. Despite regulatory uncertainties, card networks are increasingly embracing stablecoin technology for various financial applications.

The Ethereum Foundation has introduced the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative to enhance the network's security and attract more users. This initiative aims to make Ethereum secure enough for holding trillions of dollars and involves input from various security experts and community members.

Lyft has confirmed its partnership with Bee Maps, a decentralized mapping platform using Hivemapper infrastructure. The rideshare company utilizes street-level mapping data to enhance routing and navigation for its autonomous vehicle strategy. Bee Maps rewards contributors with its native HONEY token for uploading street imagery via AI-powered dashcams.

Asprey Studio has reimagined Albrecht Dürer's "The Rhinoceros" as 11 sterling silver sculptures, each with a digital inscription on the Bitcoin blockchain. The sculptures, created in partnership with the British Museum, feature a unique parent/child inscription for provenance. The process of making the silver sculptures involves digital sculpting and welding pieces together over several months.