investments

According to FinanceFeeds, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued a warning that scammers are defrauding retail investors through messaging apps like WhatsApp and fake cryptocurrency trading platforms. Scammers typically post investment advice on social media to attract users to join message groups disguised as well-known financial figures or trading communities, then lure them into depositing funds into fake platforms. These platforms simulate profits by fabricating trading data, and when users attempt to withdraw funds, they are asked for additional "unlock fees," with all funds flowing directly into the scammers' accounts.Additionally, scammers are targeting investors who have already suffered losses by promoting fake "fund recovery services" for secondary fraud. According to Moneysmart survey data, 23% of Australians aged 18 to 28 hold cryptocurrency assets, 72% of Generation Z have seen cryptocurrency ads on social media, and 41% have been directly persuaded to invest in cryptocurrencies, indicating a significantly higher risk exposure among the younger demographic. ASIC advises investors to be cautious of investment advice on social media and recommends verifying the compliance qualifications of platforms through the AUSTRAC virtual asset service provider register.

According to Hong Kong's East Network, a 34-year-old man from the mainland traveled to Hong Kong with a two-way permit. During his time there, he reportedly lost about 500,000 yuan on a cryptocurrency platform and, feeling frustrated, expressed suicidal tendencies on social media and planned to go to Hong Kong.Law enforcement agencies launched an investigation after receiving relevant information and intercepted the man at around 12:30 PM on May 14 at a fast-food restaurant on Admiralty Road. A lighter and suspected gasoline were found on him. The police arrested him on suspicion of "possessing any item with the intent to destroy or damage property" and he is currently being detained for investigation.Reports indicate that no one was injured in the incident, and there was no need for evacuation at the scene. The man is said to have complained multiple times to the relevant platform about his investment losses but did not receive a satisfactory response.

James Comer, the chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee and a Republican lawmaker, has written to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, requesting information regarding potential conflicts of interest related to personal investments and OpenAI. The investigation focuses on Altman's extensive personal investment network. Since Altman does not hold equity in OpenAI, his estimated net worth of approximately $3.5 billion primarily comes from his personal investment portfolio, which includes companies like Helion, Stripe, and Reddit.According to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, Altman had pushed for OpenAI to invest $500 million in the fusion company Helion, while Altman himself has invested at least $375 million in the company. Comer stated that this has raised concerns about whether Altman is using OpenAI to enhance the valuation of his personally held companies. Additionally, attorneys general from states such as Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, West Virginia, and Louisiana have also written to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, requesting an investigation into whether Altman has engaged in "self-dealing" and serious conflicts of interest.Meanwhile, Altman is set to testify in court on Tuesday and Wednesday in the case where Musk is suing OpenAI. Musk accuses Altman and OpenAI co-founders of violating the original "non-profit" commitment by shifting OpenAI to a profit-making operation. Although the conflict of interest investigation and Musk's lawsuit are independent events, Altman's personal investment issues have been raised multiple times during the trial. OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor defended Altman in court, stating that he has been "open and transparent" regarding personal investment matters.

Australia is considering significant reforms to its Capital Gains Tax (CGT) system, planning to replace the current 50% tax discount policy for long-term held assets with an "inflation-indexed" mechanism, covering investment categories such as cryptocurrencies and stocks. The current system allows individuals to be taxed only on 50% of the capital gains if they hold the asset for more than a year, a policy that has been in place since 1999.If the reform is implemented, investors will calculate their gains based on inflation-adjusted cost bases, which may lead to an increase in actual tax burdens during periods of rapid asset price increases. According to the proposal's logic, the new mechanism will only tax "real gains" (the portion after excluding the effects of inflation), but in a low-inflation environment, the indexed deduction may be lower than the current 50% discount, resulting in increased tax burdens for most investors. The impact on cryptocurrency investors is particularly pronounced.The current "hold to reduce tax" mechanism reinforces long-term holding (HODL) strategies, while the new proposal will weaken the advantage of time holding, significantly increasing the tax burden on unrealized gains during periods of high appreciation. The proposal is still in the discussion stage and is expected to face strong opposition from investor groups and the financial industry, with the focus of the controversy centered on the balance between capital formation efficiency and tax system fairness.

According to Businesswire, the NYSE-listed closed-end fund C1 Fund (CFND) announced its financial report for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025, indicating that its private investment strategy in digital assets continues to expand, with the portfolio advancing in sync with liquidity events.As of now, its digital asset infrastructure investment portfolio includes Alchemy, Blockchain.com, Chainalysis, Consensys, Figment, Kraken, and Ripple, among others. This year, it has made additional investments exceeding $10.47 million in projects such as BitGo, Fireblocks, and Polymarket (Blockratize Inc.), and has completed additional allocations in holdings like Ripple.

According to PRNewswire, the Swiss investment firm Multi Investment announced the completion of a financing round of 480 million Swiss francs (approximately 616 million USD). It currently manages assets exceeding 3 billion Swiss francs and aims to further advance its portfolio diversification strategy, focusing on high-growth areas such as fintech, deep tech, blockchain, and Web3.Multi Investment plans to increase its investment in the aforementioned strategic areas before the third quarter of 2026, with multiple transactions currently under evaluation, while also rapidly expanding its influence in related emerging ecosystems.

According to Techfundingnews, SpaceX's early investor 137 Ventures announced that its two new funds have completed fundraising of over $700 million, increasing its assets under management (AUM) to over $15 billion. The new funds will support its pursuit of investment opportunities in areas such as AI agents, robotics, and aerospace propulsion.It is reported that 137 Ventures currently holds more than 1% of SpaceX's shares. As SpaceX is expected to seek an IPO this year, with a valuation potentially exceeding $1 trillion, the value of 137 Ventures' holdings may exceed $10 billion.

Tether Investments proposed to optimize the structure of Twenty-One Capital (XXI) through a series of merger transactions, including a merger with Bitcoin financial services company Strike, and further integration with Bitcoin mining company Elektron Energy.If the transaction is completed, the merged entity will combine financial services platforms, global distribution and compliance infrastructure, as well as large-scale mining capabilities and computational resources, forming a comprehensive platform covering Bitcoin reserves, mining, and financial services, with plans for Elektron founder Raphael Zagury to serve as president.

Varys Capital's head of venture capital, Tom Dunleavy, posted on X that the financing environment in the cryptocurrency market has changed dramatically over the past six months. Previously, VCs had to constantly network, write content, appear on podcasts, participate in Spaces, promote their investment logic, and make countless calls every week to invest in good projects... But now, as long as there is money to spend, that's enough. Current projects are being "pushed in front of VCs," without VCs having to actively dig for them; as long as others know you have funds, projects will come knocking.Most VC firms are now in one of the following three states: they are out of money, they are shifting to later stages (Series A and beyond), or they are fundraising (but not smoothly). Fundraising that used to take 2-3 weeks now often drags on for 2-3 months. Projects with questionable business models or those that simply replicate the latest hot narratives can no longer secure new funding or follow-on investments (which is a good thing).Currently, there may be fewer than 20 firms that are still making pre-seed/seed investments. VCs can basically choose the projects they want to invest in at their leisure and have more time to conduct due diligence. The investment cycle in 2025 and 2026 is likely to become a historically significant "golden opportunity," but the premise is that VCs can hold on.

According to The Information, SpaceX recorded a loss of nearly $5 billion in 2025, primarily due to a significant increase in investments in AI-related infrastructure and computing power.The report pointed out that SpaceX is accelerating its layout in AI and high-performance computing capabilities, including data center construction and computing power procurement, to support its long-term strategy in satellite networks and automation systems. However, the high capital expenditures have significantly eroded profit performance in the short term.Despite the large losses, the market generally believes that SpaceX's core revenue sources—businesses including Starlink—are still growing, and the investments in AI are more forward-looking, aimed at strengthening its competitive advantage in the fields of communication and aerospace data processing.

According to official news, OpenEden announced a partnership with BNY Investments, a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon, to launch the tokenized product HYBOND, which will put its global short-term high-yield bond fund on the blockchain.This product will initially be open to select institutional clients and is planned to be fully available to institutional investors by the end of April 2026. It is currently deployed on the Ethereum network and will later expand to multi-chain ecosystems such as XRP Ledger and BNB Chain.

The cryptocurrency incubator Obex announced the deployment of $1 billion in funds, connecting the USDS stablecoin of the Sky ecosystem with real-world asset (RWA) yields, focusing on investments in credit, energy, and AI asset sectors, including tokenized products such as AI data centers, housing, and energy infrastructure. The goal is to enable the Sky ecosystem to go beyond "circular" crypto-native yields and provide USDS holders with higher quality, sustainable returns.As the world's third-largest stablecoin issuer (with USDS at approximately $10 billion), Sky has generated about $435 million in annualized revenue by 2025 and plans to increase the USDS supply to over $20 billion next year. Previously, Obex was authorized to invest up to $2.5 billion from the Sky reserves into RWA, and this $1 billion is the first actual deployment. Partners include Maple, USD.ai, Daylight, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, TVL Capital, Better, and others.

One of Australia's largest pension funds, Hostplus, is considering incorporating cryptocurrency into its investment options. Hostplus manages assets exceeding AUD 150 billion (approximately USD 105 billion), and its Chief Investment Officer, Sam Sicilia, stated that the fund is exploring ways to provide members with exposure to Bitcoin and other digital assets through its Choiceplus investment option.Choiceplus allows members to manage their retirement savings portfolios independently, and currently, assets under this option account for about 1% of the fund's total size.

GSR content director Frank Chaparro posted on X that Tether has disclosed at least $1.6 billion in investments over the past few months, including:Rumble: $785 million;Elemental Royalty: $250 million;Juventus FC: $150 million;Gold dot com: $150 million;Anchorage Digital: $100 million;Gold Royalty: over $90 million;Generative Bionics: $82 million;Speed1: $8 million;Parfin: amount not disclosed;Adecoagro: amount not disclosed.

Japan's AI comprehensive entertainment platform NEXST announced the completion of a strategic round of financing exceeding $3 million, with participation from institutions such as Castrum Capital, TBV, M2M Capital, and Becker Ventures, raising approximately $3 million in seed funding.It is reported that NEXST integrates artificial intelligence, RWA, and blockchain technology, aiming to enable global fans to enjoy entertainment more conveniently and gain a more immersive experience. It is committed to reshaping the global entertainment industry landscape through innovative models that leverage cutting-edge technology.

According to Bloomberg, many family offices based in Hong Kong plan to increase their allocations to private equity and digital assets over the next three years.The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR) wrote in a report on Tuesday that wealthy families' interest in these assets is expected to rise significantly, which also includes private credit and venture capital.Hong Kong has been striving to encourage more high-net-worth individuals and their families to establish investments locally, aiming to become a bridge between the mainland and global markets. According to a survey commissioned by the Hong Kong government and conducted by Deloitte, the number of single-family offices established in this financial hub increased to 3,384 by the end of last year, a 25% increase from 2023.

According to market news, South Korean courts plan to adopt new guidelines that will exclude debts incurred from stock or cryptocurrency investments from liquidation calculations, thereby reducing the total amount debtors need to repay creditors in personal restructuring procedures.The new regulations will be implemented this month in the courts of Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju. This is the latest measure by the South Korean government to address the debt issue. By 2025, the country's household debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to 92%, and the government has committed to controlling the growth rate of household debt at 3.8%. The Suwon and Busan courts have begun classifying some cryptocurrency and stock market investment losses as "general property" losses rather than "speculative debts." Seoul Bankruptcy Court Judge Lee Seok-jun called in 2024 for the government to establish more regulations to protect cryptocurrency investors. The Daegu Restructuring Court stated that it would penalize any debtors who "deliberately conceal" cryptocurrency purchases and "disguise them as failed investments."