money

The French newspaper "Le Monde" revealed that there has been new progress in the investigation of a cryptocurrency-related kidnapping case that occurred in 2023. French law enforcement discovered a transnational money laundering network involving multiple countries and cryptocurrency wallets while tracing the flow of a €1.7 million cryptocurrency ransom. The victim was the father of the well-known crypto influencer "TeufeurS." The kidnappers threatened the victim's family via text messages and demanded ransom payment in cryptocurrency. Ultimately, TeufeurS transferred a total of €1.7 million to the kidnappers' designated wallet in two installments, after which his father was released.The investigation showed that part of the ransom flowed into wallet accounts controlled by foreign nationals after multiple transfers. One transfer of $131,000 was successfully traced by the French gendarmerie, with leads ultimately pointing to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Venezuelan nationals. The case further revealed the complex chain of money laundering utilized by criminal organizations through cross-border cryptocurrency transfers, anonymous wallets, and overseas platforms. The report stated that this case is considered one of the significant examples of kidnapping and extortion cases in the European cryptocurrency industry and may serve as an early template for multiple kidnapping cases targeting cryptocurrency practitioners in France and Europe in 2025.

According to CriptoNoticias, the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica unanimously passed Amendment No. 7786, which establishes specific obligations for virtual asset service providers regarding anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This bill responds to the warning from the Financial Action Task Force in 2024 that Costa Rica could be placed on a gray list if it does not fill regulatory gaps.The new law requires virtual asset service providers to register with the General Superintendency of Financial Institutions and fulfill obligations such as customer identification, due diligence, transaction record keeping, and reporting suspicious transactions. Violations can result in fines ranging from 5% to 50% of the transaction amount, or from $1,800 to $90,000. The law will take effect three months after its publication, with its specific effectiveness depending on the enforcement by regulatory agencies.

According to the Korea Economic Daily, the National Police Agency of South Korea has formed a special task force to combat money laundering involving cryptocurrencies, led by the head of the Economic Crime Investigation Division, with participation from the Cyber Crime Investigation Division, Cyber Terrorism Response Division, Violent Crime Investigation Division, Drug Crime Investigation Division, and Criminal Intelligence Division. The police pointed out that Tether is being abused as an illegal money laundering tool, with unregistered virtual asset exchange operators spreading throughout Seoul.The police plan to treat money laundering as an independent crime and apply violations of the Specific Financial Information Act to unregistered virtual asset service providers. The police have also secured a budget of 100 million won for cryptocurrency tracking training. Previously, some bank accounts linked to domestic exchanges were suspected of being used as money laundering channels due to the removal of daily deposit limits (increased from 5 million won to 500 million won).

According to GMGN data, the top 5 tokens with net inflows of smart money in the past 24 hours are as follows:KINS (Tqj8....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, with a 24-hour increase of 186.6%, currently priced at $0.0018.Dogwifgun (GQnX....ump): Net inflow of $733, with a 24-hour increase of 6842%, currently priced at $0.0003.RICH (5hiL....ump): Net inflow of $531, with a 24-hour decrease of -42.5%, currently priced at $0.0009.OAI (56De....ump): Net inflow of $501, with a 24-hour increase of 15%, currently priced at $0.0001.HPSD (3MzQ....ump): Net inflow of $345, with a 24-hour increase of 939.4%, currently priced at $0.0001.

In response to Bankless founder David Hoffman's liquidation of ETH, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams posted on the X platform stating that "ETH is Money" is the correct narrative, just different from most people's understanding.Hayden Adams stated that in the future, all assets will be tokenized, and people will hold the assets they value most, while the most decentralized monetary system will manifest as "an infinite form of currency competing with each other." He believes that with a low-cost, high-efficiency, 24/7 asset exchange system, there is no need for a single unit of account. He also claimed that Ethereum-based Uniswap is "the best decentralized monetary system," and it is still in its early stages.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has proposed a new regulation to establish Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions compliance standards for stablecoin issuers under its supervision. The new regulation requires stablecoin issuing institutions to comply with all applicable regulations related to anti-money laundering / counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT), economic sanctions programs, and reporting requirements, including those issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).The rule will also establish regulatory and enforcement provisions for AML/CFT programs in accordance with FinCEN's requirements. The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular outlining the monitoring measures that should be implemented when opening accounts and maintaining client relationships. This circular was issued after the SFC reviewed the account opening practices of 12 securities brokerage firms.The review identified several significant deficiencies, including insufficient due diligence on account opening documents, acceptance of suspicious or forged documents during the account opening process, and weaknesses in managing cross-border agency relationships with overseas intermediaries. The SFC expressed deep concern about the potential misuse of client accounts for suspicious or illegal transactions, which could exacerbate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.The SFC requires all licensed corporations to conduct internal checks as soon as practicable to detect whether any suspicious or forged documents have been accepted for account opening. The SFC also outlined additional measures for licensed corporations when opening and managing accounts for mainland investors.These additional measures include closing investment accounts opened with suspicious or forged documents, closing zero-balance dormant investment accounts, and requiring a written declaration from investors when opening new investment accounts, stipulating that settlements and fund withdrawals can only be conducted through bank accounts held in the investor's own name at qualified banks.

According to GMGN monitoring, early this morning, Binance co-CEO He Yi retweeted CZ's early tweet about the release of his English version of the new book on the X platform (the original tweet was published on May 2). The main content of the tweet includes: book introduction, Chinese and English audiobooks, and the proceeds will be used for charity.The meme coin named Freedom of Money on the BSC chain saw a brief surge in market capitalization, reaching a high of 12 million USD, but has now fallen back to 9.4 million USD, with a 24-hour increase still holding at 25.6%. During the same period, the on-chain trading volume reached 2.6 million USD.ChainCatcher reminds users that meme coin trading is highly volatile, largely relying on market sentiment and hype, and has no actual value or use case; investors should be aware of the risks.

JPMorgan's latest report points out that although tokenized money market funds have revenue potential, they still only account for about 5% of the broader "stablecoin system," and the core position of stablecoins in the crypto ecosystem is unlikely to be replaced in the short term.The report states that stablecoins have become the default "cash tool" for trading, collateral, settlement, cross-border payments, and liquidity management, widely used in centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols, while tokenized money market funds are constrained by their securities characteristics, subject to registration, disclosure, and transfer restrictions, resulting in structural regulatory disadvantages.Analysts at JPMorgan, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, expect that without significant changes in the regulatory environment, the market size of tokenized money market funds is unlikely to exceed 10% to 15% of the overall stablecoin market. Current demand is mainly concentrated among crypto-native investors seeking yield and institutional funds looking to balance on-chain settlement with traditional asset protection.The report also notes that although tokenized funds have advantages such as near real-time settlement, 24/7 transfers, and automated clearing, their growth is still constrained by liquidity, counterparty risk, and regulatory uncertainty. JPMorgan believes that in the absence of regulatory easing, these products will struggle to challenge the infrastructure-level position of stablecoins in the crypto market.

According to a news release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong police announced that they have joined law enforcement agencies from 9 countries and regions, including Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, to combat cross-border fraud and money laundering activities. This operation took place from March 10 to May 7, resulting in the arrest of 3,018 individuals, involving over 138,000 fraud cases, with total losses of approximately $752 million (about HKD 5.89 billion).During the operation, law enforcement agencies froze a total of 101,989 bank accounts and successfully intercepted approximately $161 million (about HKD 1.26 billion) in fraudulent funds. Among them, the Hong Kong police arrested 870 individuals and intercepted approximately HKD 539 million in funds. The largest case involved a Singapore company that was defrauded of $36 million (about HKD 280 million), with the related funds subsequently flowing into multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong and other regions. About half of this amount was converted into stablecoins and dispersed into different virtual asset wallets, with the police successfully freezing $20 million of these funds after tracking.Investigations show that money laundering through virtual asset platforms is on the rise, and various regions need to continue enhancing their capabilities to respond to crimes involving virtual assets through intelligence sharing and collaborative mechanisms.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against two money laundering networks associated with the Sinaloa drug cartel, involving more than a dozen individuals and entities. One of the networks is accused of converting cash from the sale of fentanyl and other drugs into cryptocurrency and transferring it to high-ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.OFAC stated that the network laundered money through cash collection within the United States, cryptocurrency transfers, and Mexican brokers associated with the "Los Chapitos" faction. "Los Chapitos" is controlled by Ivan and Alfredo Guzman Salazar, the sons of "Shorty" Guzman. Sanctioned individuals include Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles, who is suspected of being responsible for the money laundering network, and Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas, another leader of a drug trafficking and money laundering organization.OFAC noted that the organization collects large amounts of cash in the United States, exchanges it for cryptocurrency, and sends it back to Mexico. Under the sanctions, the assets of the relevant individuals and entities within the United States will be frozen, and U.S. citizens

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against an operator of the Sinaloa drug cartel, accusing him of using cryptocurrency to transfer drug trafficking proceeds back to Mexico. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control stated that those sanctioned include Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles and several of his associates, who laundered sales revenue from fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine for the Sinaloa cartel.The network relies on couriers within the United States to collect cash and transfers funds through digital currency addresses. In April 2024, a federal grand jury in Colorado indicted another associate of Ojeda, Rodrigo Alarcon Palomares, accusing him of laundering drug proceeds through cryptocurrency.

According to PR Newswire, global payment giant MoneyGram announced a strategic partnership with Layer 1 blockchain Tempo to become its core validation node for cross-border remittances (Anchor Remittance Validator) and participate in network transaction validation.The three parties will jointly build a global interoperable payment network based on stablecoins, promoting on-chain settlement in real fund flows, while Stripe will provide on-chain stablecoin settlement services for MoneyGram on the Tempo infrastructure.

According to GMGN data, the top 5 tokens with net inflow of smart money in the past 24 hours are as follows:Goblin (3KHM....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, with a 24-hour increase of -7.9%, currently priced at $0.0105.ews (G9Uq....ump): Net inflow of $965, with a 24-hour increase of 29.4%, currently priced at $0.0001.USA (3hqr....ump): Net inflow of $415, with a 24-hour increase of 25.5%, currently priced at $0.0001.Bertie (7Uvo....ump): Net inflow of $323, with a 24-hour increase of 115.4%, currently priced at $0.0001.Dog (8WcR....ump): Net inflow of $265, with a 24-hour increase of 77.5%, currently priced at $0.0001.

According to a report by Shangguan News, on May 17, 2026, an elderly man in his 70s, Mr. Gong, from Shuxin Town, Chongming, Shanghai, was deceived by a scammer posing as an "investment mentor" on a short video platform. He was lured into investing in Bitcoin with the bait of "low investment, high returns" and attempted to withdraw 100,000 yuan in cash for transfer at different bank branches twice.After noticing the unusual behavior, the bank teller activated the anti-fraud warning mechanism and coordinated with the police to intervene and dissuade him. The police explained to the elderly man, using real cases, that virtual currency trading and speculation are explicitly prohibited in the country, and that so-called "Bitcoin investments" are all scams. They helped him delete the fraudulent software and block the scammer on WeChat on the spot. After two rounds of patient persuasion from the police and the bank, the elderly man ultimately recognized the scam and gave up the transfer.

According to Bits.media, the Russian government's bill on cryptocurrency regulation will be revised during its second reading, aiming to grant the central bank the authority to set requirements for anti-money laundering verification services for cryptocurrency transactions. Alexey Yakovlev, head of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, stated that he hopes to authorize the central bank to impose requirements on AML services, enabling them to verify whether transactions comply with current Russian laws and regulations.A representative from the Ministry of Finance stated that the authorities plan to mandate AML services to consider an "external perspective," analyzing the performance of Russian cryptocurrency wallets in international services and the "image of the Russian system formed abroad." At the same time, such services must "maintain the confidentiality of Russian financial infrastructure," not disclosing their operational principles and internal process details to outsiders. AML services are platforms that help users verify the risks of cryptocurrency wallets concerning international sanctions, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorism financing. Currently, the main regulatory body for such platforms in Russia is the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the "Cavaliers vs. Knicks" event on the prediction market Polymarket, the win probability for the "Cavaliers" option in the sub-market "1H Moneyline" has experienced significant fluctuations, rising from 32% an hour ago to the current 48% (a fluctuation of 16%). Please note the impact of relevant breaking news.

Smart money, which previously built a position of 11,004 ETH at an average price of $3.45 in 2016 and made a profit of $30.38 million, has once again bought 1,344.18 ETH ($2.83 million) on-chain 10 hours ago; currently, the average cost of the newly built position is $2,153.95, with an unrealized loss of $165,000, and all USDC on-chain has been used for building the position.

The globally leading cryptocurrency trading platform Gate has completed a significant upgrade to its prediction market, with related features integrated into Gate App v8.19. This upgrade focuses on "smart money" identification and data insights, systematically optimizing the ranking system, event detail pages, and trading processes.The new ranking system introduces user tagging and note mechanisms, supporting refined identification of traders such as "smart money" and "whales," and adds profit and loss curves and historical position displays to enhance strategy reference value. In terms of data analysis, the platform strengthens the presentation of market participation structure and capital behavior, adding modules like "top positions" to help users quickly assess market competition patterns. Additionally, the platform introduces AI analysis and quick trading features to improve decision-making efficiency and execution speed in high-frequency scenarios, further optimizing the trading experience for sports events.Gate's prediction market ecosystem has achieved deep integration with Polymarket and consistently ranks among the top three in Polymarket's cooperative channels. Users can directly access Polymarket through the Alpha section on the Gate App homepage and participate in event trading using their USDT balance.This upgrade systematically enhances Gate's data analysis capabilities and trading execution efficiency in the prediction market. In the future, Gate will continue to expand its product architecture and market ecosystem, promoting the prediction market towards a more professional and efficient direction.