A historic $600 billion trade agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has triggered a market-wide rebound, with crypto assets outperforming traditional equities. Bitcoin is now hovering near all-time highs as investor risk appetite returns ahead of Coinbase’s S&amp;P 500 debut. Digital Assets Lead Market Rebound Amid Landmark Trade Deal and Softening Consumer Price Index […]

QCP Insights: Crypto Surges as US-Saudi Trade Deal Sparks Market Rebound

Polygon price is at risk of a significant drop after forming a bearish 
technical pattern—despite growth in its decentralized finance and stablecoin 
activity. Polygon (POL) token was trading at $0.2355 on Thursday, a few points 
below this week’s high of…

Polygon price at risk of a 40% crash despite DeFi, stablecoin gains

Coinbase suffered a data breach after bribed overseas support agents enabled 
access to sensitive user data. A $20 million reward fund has been set up to 
aid the investigation. Hackers Bribe Support Staff to Steal Coinbase User Data 
in Stealth Attack Crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) disclosed on May 15 
that a group of bribed […]

Coinbase Data Breach: Rogue Agents Leak User Info, $20M Hunt Begins

eToro CEO Yoni Assia revealed that the company bought Bitcoin at $5 and 
eventually sold it for a $50 million profit, marking one of the earliest known 
institutional crypto bets. Speaking to CNBC following eToro’s Nasdaq debut, 
Assia shared that…

eToro CEO: We bought Bitcoin at $5 and made a $50m profit

Wintermute, a London-based algorithmic crypto trading and market-making firm, 
has opened an office in New York as part of its expansion into the US.
Wintermute announced the opening of its New York office on May 15, citing 
improved regulatory conditions in the world&#8217;s largest economy.
&#8220;As the US takes a friendlier stance on digital assets and institutional 
adoption accelerates, we moved quickly to establish roots in New York City,&#8221; 
the company wrote in a May 15 X post, adding that the local presence will help 
them in &#8220;contributing to the future regulatory framework.&#8221;
_Source:__Wintermute_
&#8220;We&#8217;re eager to continue our growth and play an integral role in the U.S. 
market,&#8221; according to Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute. &#8220;As a neutral player 
with deep expertise in all areas of digital assets, we believe we are well- 
positioned to lend our expertise on Capitol Hill.&#8221;
As part of the firm&#8217;s expansion, Wintermute has appointed Ron Hammond as its 
new head of policy and advocacy, who brings &#8220;ten years of experience shaping 
crypto policy on Capitol Hill,&#8221; the company also announced.
Hammond was previously the senior director of government relations and 
institutional engagement at the Blockchain Association and the policy lead for 
US Representative Warren Davidson.
Hammond also authored the Token Taxonomy Act of 2021, the first bipartisan- 
supported crypto regulatory bill in the US.
_**Related:**__**Coinbase faces $400M bill after insider phishing attack**_
Increasingly more crypto firms have expanded into the US since President 
Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 after winning the 2024 presidential 
election.
During his campaign, Trump signaled that his administration intends to make 
crypto policy a national priority, bolstering expectations for more 
innovation-friendly crypto regulations for the next four years.
At least eight large crypto firms have announced their expansion in the US so 
far this year, banking on growing regulatory clarity. These include 
Binance.US, eToro, OKX exchange, Nexo, Circle, Crypto.com and a16z, 
Cointelegraph reported on May 11.
_**Related:**__**Stablecoins seen as ideal fit for real-time collateral 
management**_
## Wintermute met with SEC Crypto Task Force
Wintermute said it aims to contribute to the emerging regulatory framework in 
the US.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve already met with the SEC Crypto Task Force and will continue offering 
technical input and contributing to key legislative efforts,&#8221; the firm stated, 
adding that these are &#8220;essential for continued institutional participation.&#8221;
Meanwhile, crypto industry participants await progress on the Stablecoin 
Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy (STABLE) Act.
The STABLE Act passed the House Financial Services Committee in a 32-17 vote 
on April 2 and currently awaits scheduling for debate and a floor vote in the 
House of Representatives.
However, a second piece of key stablecoin legislation, the Guiding and 
Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, initially 
failed to garner enough support from Democrats on May 8, prompting at least 60 
top crypto founders to gather in Washington, DC, to show support.
Despite the stalled stablecoin legislation, &#8220;momentum toward regulatory 
clarity remains active in both chambers,&#8221; Nexo dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev 
told Cointelegraph.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin to $1M &#8216;by 2029,&#8217; CIA tips its hat to Bitcoin: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest, April 27 &#8211; May 3**_

Wintermute opens New York office, citing improved US crypto rules

A lag in Tether&#8217;s wallet blacklisting process allowed over $78 million in 
illicit funds to be moved before enforcement actions took effect, according to 
a new report from blockchain compliance firm AMLBot.
In a May 15 report, AMLBot&#8217;s onchain investigation team explained that 
Tether&#8217;s address blacklisting becomes effective after a considerable delay 
from when the process is initiated on Ethereum and Tron.
&#8220;This delay originates from Tether&#8217;s multisignature contract setup on both 
Tron and Ethereum, transforming what should be an immediate compliance action 
into a window of opportunity for illicit actors,&#8221; the report stated.
Tether&#8217;s blacklisting procedure is a multi-step process with a first 
transaction effectively warning of the upcoming blacklisting. First, a Tether 
administrator multisignature transaction submits a pending call to 
&#8220;addBlackList&#8221; on the USDT-TRC20 contract.
This results in a public &#8220;submission&#8221; of the target address as a blacklist 
candidate. This is followed by a second multisignature transaction confirming 
the submission, resulting in an &#8220;AddedBlackList&#8221; emission, making the 
blacklisting effective.
_**Related:**__**Tether, Tron and TRM Labs jointly froze $126M USDT in 2024**_
## A warning on incoming blacklisting
In one example shared with Cointelegraph, an onchain transaction submitting a 
Tron address as a blacklist candidate took place at 11:10:12 UTC. The second 
transaction that actually enforced the action did not occur until 11:54:51 UTC 
on the same day, a 44-minute delay.
In practice, this delay can be treated by owners of USDt about to be 
blacklisted as a notice to move their assets to avoid them being frozen. The 
report stated:
&gt; &#8220;This delay between a freeze request and its on-chain execution creates a 
&gt; critical attack window, allowing malicious actors to front-run enforcement 
&gt; and move or launder funds before the freeze takes effect.&#8221;
_Example of USDt blacklisting transactions. Source: AMLBot_
The report claimed that &#8220;for blockchain-savvy attackers, these delays are 
golden.&#8221; By tracking Tether&#8217;s calls in real time, a fraudster can be instantly 
alerted that their address is being targeted. When asked by Cointelegraph 
whether the delay is a technical limitation or just a delay in the actions of 
a multisignature wallet key holder, AMLBot researchers said that they cannot 
determine it without knowledge of Tether&#8217;s internal procedures.
Tether had not responded to Cointelegraph&#8217;s request for comment by 
publication.
_**Related:**__**Tether stablecoin issuer and Tron launch financial crime 
unit**_
## Not just theoretical
AMLBot claimed that its data shows that over $28.5 million in USDT was 
withdrawn during the delay between the two transactions on the Ethereum 
blockchain. This amount of freeze avoidance occurred between Nov. 28, 2017, 
and May 12, 2025. The average amount moved during the delay exceeded $365,000.
Similarly, $49.6 million was reportedly withdrawn during freeze delay windows 
on the Tron blockchain, resulting in a total on Ethereum and Tron of $78.1 
million. Exploiting this delay on Tron is not particularly rare, according to 
AMLBot:
&gt; &#8220;170 out of 3,480 wallets (4.88%) on Tron blockchain exploited the lag 
&gt; before getting blacklisted. Each of these wallets made 2-3 transfers during 
&gt; the delay, withdrawing: Average: $291,970.&#8221;
Tether has previously promoted its ability to freeze assets as a compliance 
feature. In 2024, Tether, Tron, and analytics firm TRM Labs cooperated to 
freeze over $126 million in USDT linked to illicit activity.
Still, the AMLBot report raises questions about the effectiveness and speed of 
those enforcement actions.
_**Magazine:**__**Chinese Tether laundromat, Bhutan enjoys recent Bitcoin 
boost: Asia Express**_