Co-founder and former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly been transferred to a low-security prison in California after doing time in a notoriously violent facility dubbed &#8216;Victimville.&#8217; According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons&#8217; inmate registry, Bankman-Fried has recently…

Sam Bankman-Fried moved to low-security prison after nearly two weeks in ‘Victimville’

John D’Agostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional, revealed that 
sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors have become key drivers of 
bitcoin accumulation in April, contrasting with retail investors’ retreat from 
exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Institutional Demand and Sovereign Funds, Not 
Retail, Behind Bitcoin’s April Rally, D’Agostino Tells CNBC Sovereign wealth 
funds — state-owned investment pools […]

Sovereign Wealth Funds Bet on Bitcoin as Gold Alternative, Says Coinbase Institutional Strategist

Ondo Finance met with the U.S. SEC’s Crypto Asset Working Group to present a 
regulatory framework for tokenizing publicly traded U.S. securities. The 
meeting, also attended by lawyers from Davis Polk &amp; Wardwell, focused on how 
existing financial rules might…

SEC meets with Ondo Finance to discuss tokenizing US securities

_**Opinion by: Igor Zemtsov, chief technology officer at TBCC**_
Crypto security is a ticking time bomb. Updatable firmware might just be the 
match that lights the fuse.
Hardware wallets have become the holy grail of self-custody, the ultimate 
safeguard against hackers, scammers and even government overreach. There&#8217;s an 
inconvenient truth, however, that most people ignore: Firmware updates aren&#8217;t 
just security patches.
They&#8217;re potential backdoors, waiting for someone &#8212; whether a hacker, a rogue 
developer or a shady third party &#8212; to kick them wide open.
Every time a hardware wallet manufacturer pushes an update, users are forced 
to make a choice. Hit that update button and hope for the best, or refuse to 
update and risk using outdated software with unknown vulnerabilities. Either 
way, it&#8217;s a gamble.
In crypto, a bad gamble can mean waking up to an empty wallet.
## Firmware updates aren&#8217;t always your friend
Updating firmware sounds like common sense. More security! Fewer bugs! Better 
user experience!
Here&#8217;s the thing: Every update is also an opportunity not just for the wallet 
provider but for anyone with the power, or motivation, to tamper with the 
process.
Hackers dream of firmware vulnerabilities. A rushed or poorly audited update 
can introduce tiny, almost imperceptible flaws &#8212; ones that sit in the 
background, waiting for the right moment to drain funds. And the best part? 
Users will never know what hit them.
Then there&#8217;s the more unsettling possibility: deliberate backdoors.
_**Recent: H**_ _**ardware wallet Ledger helps competitor Trezor resolve 
security vulnerability**_
Tech companies have been forced to include government-mandated surveillance 
tools before. What makes anyone think hardware wallet makers are exempt? If a 
regulatory agency &#8212; or worse, a criminal organization &#8212; wants access to 
private keys, firmware updates are the perfect attack vector. One hidden 
function. One disguised line of code.
That&#8217;s all it takes. Still think firmware updates are harmless?
## Firmware vulnerabilities are already being exploited
This isn&#8217;t some far-fetched, doomsday scenario. It has already happened.
Ledger, one of the biggest names in crypto security, had a major security 
crisis in 2018 when security researcher Saleem Rashid exposed a vulnerability 
that allowed attackers to replace Ledger Nano S firmware and hijack private 
keys. Nearly 1 million devices were at risk before a fix was rolled out. The 
scary part? There was no way for users to know if their devices had already 
been compromised.
In 2023, OneKey suffered a similar nightmare. White hat hackers demonstrated 
that its firmware could be cracked in mere seconds. No crypto was lost &#8212; this 
time. But what if real attackers had found the flaw first?
Then came the &#8220;Dark Skippy&#8221; exploit, taking firmware-based attacks to an 
entirely new level. With just two signed transactions, hackers could extract a 
user&#8217;s entire seed phrase &#8212; without setting off a single alarm. If firmware 
updates can be manipulated this easily, how can anyone be sure their assets 
are safe?
## The hidden price of updatable firmware
To be fair, not all firmware updates are security disasters. Ledger uses a 
proprietary operating system and secure element chips for added protection 
now. Trezor takes an open-source approach, allowing the community to 
scrutinize its firmware. Coldcard and BitBox02 give users manual control over 
updates, reducing &#8212; but not eliminating &#8212; risk.
Here&#8217;s the real question: Can users ever be 100% sure that an update won&#8217;t 
introduce a fatal flaw?
Some wallets have decided to eliminate the risk altogether. Tangem ships with 
fixed, non-updatable firmware, meaning that its code can never be altered once 
the device leaves the factory. No updates. No patches.
Of course, this approach has its trade-offs. If a vulnerability is discovered, 
there&#8217;s no way to fix it. But in security, predictability matters.
## Real crypto security means taking back control
The crypto market was worth $2.79 trillion as of March 2025. With that much 
money on the table, cybercriminals, rogue insiders and overreaching 
governments are always looking for weak points. Hardware wallet makers should 
be laser-focused on security.
Choosing a hardware wallet shouldn&#8217;t feel like gambling with private keys. It 
shouldn&#8217;t involve blind trust in a corporation&#8217;s ability to push updates 
responsibly. Users deserve more than vague reassurances. They deserve security 
models that put control where it belongs &#8212; with them.
Security isn&#8217;t about convenience. It&#8217;s about control. Any system that requires 
trusting unknown developers, opaque update processes or firmware that can be 
changed at will? That&#8217;s not control. That&#8217;s a liability.
The only real way to keep a hardware wallet safe? Remove the guesswork. Strip 
away the blind trust. Always research the developers&#8217; backgrounds, check their 
track record for security incidents, and see how they&#8217;ve handled past 
vulnerabilities. Stick to verifiable facts &#8212; security should never be based 
on assumptions.
_**Opinion by: Igor Zemtsov, chief technology officer at TBCC.**_
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and 
should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and 
opinions expressed here are the author&#8217;s alone and do not necessarily reflect 
or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

The hidden risk of updatable firmware

Theo, a provider of onchain trading infrastructure, has raised $20 million 
from 17 investors to enhance its institutional-grade trading platform aimed at 
retail investors.
The funding round was co-led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital, with additional 
participation from venture capital firms Manifold Trading, Miranda Ventures, 
Flowdesk, MEXC and Amber Group, Theo disclosed on April 24.
Citadel, Jane Street, IMC and JPMorgan were listed as angel investors in the 
deal.
Created by former quant traders, Theo gives retail investors access to 
advanced strategies like high-frequency trading and market making, which are 
tools typically used by professional trading firms.
Theo&#8217;s infrastructure can be used across centralized exchanges and 
decentralized financing protocols, the company said.
The Theo network secures nearly $29 million in total value locked as of April 
23, according to industry data.
_Theo &#8216;s total value locked is down from its peak in February. Source: 
__DefiLlama_
Theo is part of a wave of blockchain protocols attempting to bridge the gap 
between institutional finance and retail. Companies like Polygon, Fireblocks, 
Ondo Finance, Lido, and BloFin have all played active roles in advancing this 
space.
_**Related:**__**Institutions break up with Ethereum but keep ETH on the 
hook**_
## Institutions are also coming onchain
While companies like Theo are working to bring Wall Street-level 
sophistication to crypto-native users, there&#8217;s strong evidence that influence 
is flowing in the opposite direction, too.
After years of speculation, institutional involvement in digital assets is now 
a reality, driven by the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, the rise of 
real-world asset tokenization, the lure of onchain lending, and the growing 
dominance of stablecoins as a preferred funding method.
According to credit rating agency Moody&#8217;s, secondary markets built on the 
blockchain can streamline the investing process by removing inefficiencies and 
lowering barriers to asset ownership.
These trends are a major reason why the majority of institutional investors 
say they plan to increase their crypto allocations this year, according to a 
recent survey by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon.
The survey also determined that three-quarters of institutions could be active 
DeFi users within two years.
_**Magazine:**__**Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra &#8216;s plan to win trust: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest, April 13 &#8211; 19**_

Angels from Citadel, Jane Street, JPMorgan back $20M raise for Theo network

Tether Investments &#8212; the investment arm of leading stablecoin issuer Tether 
&#8212; acquired additional shares in Juventus Football Club.
According to an April 24 announcement, with its latest investment, Tether 
brought its total participation in Juventus to over 10.12% of the issued share 
capital, representing 6.18% of the voting rights. The investment follows the 
firm&#8217;s initial acquisition of 8.2% of the issued shares.
_Tether&#8217;s second Juventus investment announcement &#8216;s image. Source: __Tether_
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the investment is not only a short-term 
financial maneuver but &#8220;a commitment to innovation and long-term 
collaboration.&#8221; He added:
&gt; &#8220;We believe Juventus is uniquely positioned to lead both on the field and in 
&gt; embracing technology that can elevate fan engagement, digital experiences, 
&gt; and financial resilience. We&#8217;re excited about the opportunities ahead.&#8221;
Founder of Obchakevich Research, Alex Obchakevich, told Cointelegraph that 
Tether&#8217;s Juventus stake increase is an &#8220;attempt to prove to non-crypto 
investors and users that the company is much more than just a stablecoin.&#8221; 
Investors may also not be the only target:
&gt; &#8220;It is also a way to improve your image with regulators (especially in the 
&gt; European Union) by demonstrating transparency and stability.&#8221;
Obchakevich added that he believes &#8220;Tether is trying to return to the European 
market&#8221; after losing access due to compliance issues with the local Markets in 
Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Leading crypto exchange Binance delisted 
Tether&#8217;s stablecoin, USDt (USDT), in the European Economic Area (EEA) earlier 
this month, and now a &#8220;stake in Juventus is one of the options for returning 
to the EU market.&#8221;
## What is Juventus?
Juventus is a professional soccer club based in Turin, Italy, widely regarded 
as one of the most successful and popular teams in the history of Italian and 
European soccer. Founded in 1897, Juventus, commonly known as &#8220;Juve,&#8221; competes 
in Serie A, Italy&#8217;s top soccer league.
The club has won numerous national and international titles, including 
multiple Serie A championships, Coppa Italia trophies and UEFA competitions. 
Tether announced its intention to work closely with the soccer club&#8217;s 
leadership and stakeholders, as well as provide further financial support:
&gt; &#8220;As a further demonstration of its long-term commitment, Tether is also open 
&gt; to participating in any future equity injections to help strengthen 
&gt; Juventus&#8217;s financial foundation and avoid dilution of its position.&#8221;
## Tether is on a shopping spree
This is just the latest in a long series of investments by Tether. According 
to reports from earlier this month, Brandon Lutnick, chair of investment 
banking firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is partnering with SoftBank, Tether and 
Bitfinex to create a $3 billion crypto acquisition company.
Tether is also involved in Bitcoin (BTC) mining. The firm recently announced 
the intention to deploy its existing and future Bitcoin hashrate to Ocean&#8217;s 
Bitcoin mining pool to strengthen the network&#8217;s decentralization.
Tether also just bought 8,888 Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2025. Data from 
the onchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows that the firm 
currently holds 95,721 BTC, worth roughly $8.89 billion at the time of 
writing.
In late March, Tether also invested €10 million ($11.4 million) in the Italian 
media company Be Water. Some of the investments are already paying off, with 
Canadian YouTube alternative Rumble recently launching its wallet with support 
for Tether&#8217;s USDT stablecoin. This comes after Tether invested $775 million in 
Rumble in late 2024.
Tether&#8217;s recent spending spree is likely at least partly due to the company&#8217;s 
intention to hedge against a falling US dollar. Still, Obchakevich thinks this 
is not the whole story since &#8220;companies like Tether are playing for the long 
haul, and a situational drop in the dollar in the market due to tariffs would 
not be a reason to spend money quickly.&#8221; He said:
&gt; &#8220;The deal with Juventus is not a situational story, I&#8217;m sure it was prepared 
&gt; long before the tariffs and the dollar fell.&#8221;