zar

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According to Cryptopolitan, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed skepticism in an interview about the U.S. "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act)" passing in the first quarter of 2026, and called for David Sacks, the Trump administration's head of cryptocurrency affairs, to resign. Hoskinson pointed out that since Sacks took office at the end of 2024, cryptocurrency prices have fallen, regulatory clarity has been lacking, and the industry has failed to establish a solid foundation for development.He believes that if the bill does not pass this quarter, Sacks should resign, stating that he has "let the entire industry down." Hoskinson also mentioned that if the Democrats regain control of the House in the midterm elections in November, the bill will be even less likely to pass. He criticized the current U.S. cryptocurrency policy for favoring large financial institutions over retail investors, centralizing the industry around Wall Street firms like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.Additionally, Hoskinson reiterated that Trump-related cryptocurrency projects have caused market confusion, emphasizing that cryptocurrencies should remain global and neutral, rather than being nationalized or politicized. He advocates for the U.S. to establish enduring and non-restrictive cryptocurrency regulations, even if it takes longer.

The report "2025 Cyber Threat Trends and 2026 Security Outlook" released by AhnLab shows that the North Korean-backed hacker group Lazarus has been named the most frequently in the past 12 months, primarily using "spear phishing" to carry out attacks, often disguising themselves as seminar invitations, interview requests, and other emails to lure targets into opening attachments. The report states that Lazarus is considered the main suspect in several major attacks, including the Bybit hacking incident on February 21 this year (resulting in a loss of $1.4 billion) and the recent $30 million vulnerability attack on the South Korean exchange Upbit.AhnLab indicates that to enhance security, companies need to establish a multi-layered defense system, including regular security audits, timely patch updates, and strengthening employee education. The company also recommends that individual users employ multi-factor authentication, handle unknown links and attachments with caution, avoid excessive exposure of personal information, and only download content from official channels. AhnLab points out that with the widespread use of AI applications, attackers will find it easier to generate indistinguishable phishing emails, spoofed pages, and deepfake content, and related threats may further complicate in the future. (Cointelegraph)

Regarding Upbit's incident of approximately 44.5 billion KRW (about 36 million USD) in cryptocurrency being stolen, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju stated today that the attack method disclosed by Upbit is "almost impossible for an ordinary hacker to accomplish."Upbit previously mentioned that the attackers might have "inferred the private keys" by analyzing the patterns of user wallet addresses. Ki Young Ju bluntly remarked that the difficulty of such attack techniques is extremely high, and if this is true, "I suspect that no hacker organization other than North Korea's Lazarus could achieve this."

According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean virtual asset exchange Upbit has suffered a hacker attack, resulting in the theft of virtual assets worth 44.5 billion won. Currently, the North Korean reconnaissance agency's hacker organization Lazarus Group is highly suspected to be behind this incident.Local time, Yonhap News Agency learned from the information and communication technology (ICT) industry and relevant South Korean government departments that, given the significant suspicion surrounding the hacker organization Lazarus Group under the North Korean reconnaissance agency, authorities are conducting on-site inspections of Upbit. This hacker organization was previously implicated in the theft of 58 billion won worth of Ethereum from Upbit in 2019. A government official stated, "This attack is unlikely to have targeted the server; it is more probable that the administrator account was stolen, or that the attacker disguised themselves as an administrator to transfer funds." He also mentioned, "Based on the information currently available, the hackers used this method six years ago, so it is speculated that the same method was employed this time."

The BNB Chain ecological RWA card platform SuperSuperRare announced the launch of a card-drawing-based points leaderboard system. According to the official introduction, the current points mechanism of the SSR platform is calculated based on the FMV (Fair Market Value) of the cards obtained by users during each draw, and the ranking on the leaderboard will be determined by users' drawing records and the number of cards opened.SuperSuperRare stated that this project is a TCG (trading card game) combined with RWA on-chain drawing platform. The currently available Pokémon cards are all physical Pokémon cards certified by the rating agency PSA. Users can freely choose from three options: one-click buy back, trading in the NFT market, or redeeming physical cards for offline delivery.Currently, SSR has launched an unlimited blind box drawing function. Unlike most "black box" drawing mechanisms on the market, each draw will be determined by random numbers and algorithms to fairly draw cards of different rarity levels. In the future, a blockchain-based verifiable "lucky bag" limited drawing mechanism will also be launched.Previously, on November 12, the first user of the SuperSuperRare platform drew and chose to mint the "2021 Japan 25th Anniversary Edition Shiny Charizard" card, which was minted on-chain at BNB Chain block height 67930239, becoming the platform's first on-chain Pokémon card as a real RWA asset.

ChainCatcher news, venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led a $12.9 million funding round to support fintech startup ZAR in promoting dollar-backed stablecoins in Pakistan.Dragonfly Capital, VanEck Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst participated in this funding round. ZAR innovatively distributes stablecoins through local convenience stores, phone booths, and remittance agents, allowing users to exchange cash for stablecoins stored in their mobile wallets by simply scanning a QR code at participating stores, which are connected to a globally usable Visa card.This model specifically targets over 100 million unbanked adults in Pakistan, without requiring users to understand blockchain or cryptocurrency technology. ZAR was co-founded by Sebastian Scholl and Brandon Timinsky, who previously sold their mobile wallet startup SadaPay to Turkey's Papara. The company has received positive early feedback in urban centers in Pakistan, with total funding reaching $20 million, and plans to expand the model to the African market by 2026.

ChainCatcher news, EurekaTrading founder Kuan Sun tweeted a review of how he nearly lost $13 million due to a phishing attack: On September 2, 2025, approximately $13 million in assets in his wallet were almost stolen by the Lazarus hacker group. The security team acted urgently and ultimately recovered the funds.The incident was triggered by what appeared to be a normal Zoom meeting invitation, which was actually a carefully arranged phishing trap. The hackers exploited "acquaintance" relationships, deepfake videos, and a forged Rabby plugin to tailor the attack against the victim, Venus. Under the mistaken belief in the fake plugin, the victim executed a withdraw, putting the assets at risk of being transferred along with liabilities. PeckShield, SlowMist, Venus, and multiple security teams responded quickly, pausing the protocol and investigating risks, ultimately preventing the theft of funds. Hardware wallets are not foolproof; there are still risks of plugin and frontend hijacking; Zoom links, upgrade pop-ups, and acquaintance relationships can all serve as entry points for attacks.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Telegraph, the UK-registered cryptocurrency platform Lykke has been forced to cease operations and liquidate in March this year after being hacked and losing approximately £17 million (about $22.8 million) in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The UK Treasury's OFSI reported that the hackers are from North Korea's Lazarus group, and the funds were used for military and nuclear projects. Lykke founder Richard Olsen has been declared bankrupt, and the case is still under investigation.

ChainCatcher message, Bitget on-chain trading has launched the MEME tokens LIZARD, CYC, and Imagine in the Solana and BNB Smart Chain ecosystems. Users can start trading in the on-chain trading section.

ChainCatcher message, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT's monitoring, a user is suspected to have been attacked by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group on May 16, resulting in a loss of approximately 3.2 million dollars in assets. The stolen assets were sold on the market, and the stolen funds were subsequently cross-chained from Solana to Ethereum. On June 25, 400 ETH was deposited into Tornado Cash; on June 27, 400 ETH was deposited into Tornado Cash.

ChainCatcher message, the latest intelligence from the SlowMist security team indicates that the North Korean Lazarus hacker group is using a new type of espionage Trojan called OtterCookie to launch targeted attacks against cryptocurrency and financial professionals.The total methods include faking high-paying job interviews/investor meetings, using deepfake videos to impersonate recruiters, and disguising malware as "programming test questions" or "system update packages."The targets for theft include login credentials saved in browsers, passwords and digital certificates in the macOS Keychain, as well as cryptocurrency wallet information and private keys.SlowMist recommends being vigilant about unsolicited job/investment offers, requiring multi-factor authentication for remote interviews, avoiding running executable files from unknown sources, especially so-called "technical test questions" or "update patches," strengthening endpoint protection (EDR), deploying antivirus software, and regularly checking for abnormal processes.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, BitMEX thwarted a cyber attack by the North Korean Lazarus Group hackers, who targeted its employees through fake NFT partnership offers on LinkedIn. BitMEX stated that the hackers' strategy was not complex.It is reported that the Lazarus Group contacted a BitMEX employee on LinkedIn, proposing an NFT partnership, with the real goal of tricking the employee into running malicious code from a GitHub repository. After reviewing the codebase, the employee flagged suspicious code, and BitMEX's security team quickly investigated, identifying obfuscated JavaScript and tracing it back to infrastructure associated with Lazarus.

ChainCatcher news, according to Finance Feeds, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group has recently shifted its attack targets to individual investors, stealing over $5.2 million from a merchant through malware on May 24. The stolen funds involve multiple wallet types, including exchange wallets, multi-signature wallets, and external accounts.Blockchain analyst ZackXBT tracked that the hackers have transferred about 1,000 ETH through the mixer Tornado Cash.Security experts recommend that individual investors take protective measures: use hardware wallets to store large assets, enable two-factor authentication, regularly update software patches, be wary of suspicious links, and regularly check transaction records. This attack marks a strategic shift for the organization from targeting institutions to individual investors.

ChainCatcher news, the DeFi platform Zaros team tweeted that it will cease operations due to depleted funds. The team had attempted to adjust its strategy, but was unable to sustain operations due to the system's inability to access existing liquidity sources and issues with the timing of the ZRS token issuance. Additionally, neither of the two co-founders sold any ZRS tokens during this process.Previous news, on May 23, 2024, the DeFi platform Zaros completed a $1.8 million financing round, with participation from Cogitent Ventures and others.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, stablecoin startup Zar announced the completion of a $7 million funding round, led by a16z, Dragonfly Capital, and VanEck Ventures.The project aims to launch a stablecoin ZAR pegged to the South African Rand, focusing on digital payments and cross-border transactions in the African market. ZAR plans to ensure compliance and stability by collaborating with local financial institutions and promote the widespread adoption of stablecoins in the African region.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, crypto mogul David Sacks and Gemini co-founders Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss will join the private club founded by Donald Trump Jr. The membership fee for this private club is $500,000, aimed at creating an exclusive communication environment for CEOs, tech founders, and policy experts.