CFA Report Pegs US Crypto Fraud Losses at $80.7B

Professor Andrew Urquhart, Head of Finance at Birmingham Business School, shares insights on Bitcoin's energy usage and sustainability in the ninth Professor Coin column. Bitcoin's PoW system secures the network but raises concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact.

World Liberty Financial, an Ethereum-based DeFi project co-founded by U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons, aims to "keep the dollar digital" and provide loans. The platform has launched a stablecoin called USD1, with a market cap of $3.56 billion.

Tempo, a blockchain project by Stripe, raised $500 million in a Series A round, valuing the project at $5 billion. The round was co-led by Greenoaks and Thrive Capital, with Ethereum core developer Dankrad Feist joining Tempo.

MrBeast, a popular social media personality, has filed a trademark for MrBeast Financial to launch a cryptocurrency exchange app. The application includes various financial services, but as of now, he has not obtained necessary licenses or approvals.

Analysts suggest that some traders are still adhering to the traditional four-year cycle in the crypto market, leading to recent price declines. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP have all experienced significant drops, with altcoins faring even worse. The market landscape may be evolving beyond the predictable cycle due to various factors.

Wintermute, a prominent market maker, halted trading during the flash crash last week due to broken internal rules, causing a temporary pause in market stabilization efforts. Other market makers, like LO:TECH, also experienced disruptions, impacting liquidity and price stability across exchanges.

The Mt. Gox hack in June 2011 saw a hacker steal and sell hundreds of thousands of BTC for just a penny, causing Bitcoin's price to plummet by 99.9%. This incident erased nearly the entire market's value as Mt. Gox facilitated 90% of Bitcoin trading at the time.

Bitcoin's price dropped to $106,953, 11% lower than last week, causing concern among short-term holders. The $103,000 level is crucial to monitor, as it has been a key support during the 2025 bull run.

Gespa, the Swiss gambling authority, has filed a criminal complaint against FIFA Collect for offering unlicensed gambling services in Switzerland. The platform's "right-to-buy" NFTs are considered illegal under Swiss gambling regulations, prompting Gespa to report the platform to the authorities.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, is preparing to launch Maelstrom Equity Fund I, aiming to raise $250 million for acquiring medium-sized crypto companies. The fund will focus on trading infrastructure and data analytics firms, with investments ranging from $40 million to $75 million.