Lawmakers in the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, have passed a bill implementing the European Union Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), amid a probe into the collapse of Zondacrypto, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

 

The passage of the bill marks a third attempt after the president vetoed earlier versions proposed by lawmakers. Following the latest parliamentary approval, the bill now awaits the president’s decision before it can become law.

 

The Polish government has until July 1, 2026, the end of the transitional period, to implement the MiCA framework. If the deadline is missed, virtual asset service providers risk having their licenses expire. Without valid authorization, crypto firms in Poland would no longer be permitted to provide crypto asset services to clients in Poland or across the European Union.

 

As a result, affected companies may be forced to shut down their operations in Poland or relocate to another EU member state in order to obtain a crypto asset service provider license, which is generally more costly and time-consuming. This requirement applies primarily to domestic crypto entities, while foreign crypto companies operating in Poland are expected to remain unaffected by this policy.

 

Zondacrypto Collapse

The passage of the bill adopting MiCA comes as Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into the collapse of Zondacrypto, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

 

Zondacrypto has halted withdrawals for thousands of users since December 2025, leaving many unable to access their funds. According to Polish authorities, about 30,000 users have been affected, with estimated losses exceeding 350 million zlotys ($95.93 million).

 

Amid Zondacrypto’s financial struggles and its admission that it lost access to a cold wallet holding about 4,500 BTC, allegedly linked to its former CEO, who has been missing since 2022, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has alleged that the exchange’s collapse is linked to fraud and its existing ties with Russian mafia groups.

 

According to Tusk, Zondacrypto’s success comes from “Russian money linked to the so-called Bratva Mafia group and Russian intelligence agencies.” Describing its roots as sinister, Tusk accused Zondacrypto of sponsoring right-wing opposition politicians. By advancing the bill supporting MiCA, Tusk aims to reduce the ease with which cryptocurrencies are used to finance sabotage activities in the country.

 

 

THORChain, the decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol that enables asset swaps between blockchains, has paused trading on its platform following reports by security researchers, including ZachXBT and PeckShield, that the platform was exploited for more than $10 million.

 

 

Following alerts from security researchers, THORChain halted all trading activities, citing abnormal and suspicious behavior it had detected. According to the team, one of its six Asgard vaults was compromised, resulting in a loss of approximately $10 million.

 

However, the team said in a post on X that user funds were safe and that only protocol-owned funds were affected.

 

 

“Investigation is still ongoing to determine the root cause. Contributors are actively working on the issue and we will report updates as we progress toward a solution,” the team said.

 

“We are asking all node operators to immediately review their infrastructure, hosts, key management systems, and operational security for any signs of compromise or abnormal behavior, and to report anything suspicious in Discord.”

 

Following the team's confirmation of the exploit, RUNE, the native crypto asset of THORChain, fell by nearly 15%, wiping out more than $27 million in market capitalization. Its market capitalization dropped to around $182 million. At the time of writing, RUNE was trading at $0.50, down 13.8% from its pre-hack price of $0.58.

 

Latest of Several Attacks

This is not the first time THORChain has been exploited by attackers. In 2021, it suffered three separate exploits, resulting in losses of over $16 million.

 

In the first exploit, it lost approximately $350,000 due to a vulnerability in the way the protocol handled ERC-20 deposits. In the second exploit, which occurred just one month after the first, THORChain suffered losses of between $4.9 million and $8 million. In the third exploit, the protocol lost about $8 million due to a refund logic vulnerability.

 

The THORChain exploits are among the latest and largest of the 11 decentralized finance exploits recorded this month. Exploits in decentralized finance remain widespread, with the previous quarter recording more incidents than the first quarter of 2025.

 

 

Charles Schwab, the United States based brokerage and banking firm, has launched Schwab Crypto, a spot crypto trading platform that provides direct access to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading, along with educational content and support from experienced professionals for users.

 

 

“We know our clients want to conduct more of their financial lives at Schwab. With Schwab Crypto, clients who want direct access to the asset class can trade it alongside their other investments, while benefiting from the service, education, and research they expect from us,” said Jonathan Craig, Head of Retail Investing at Charles Schwab.

 

The spot trading platform will provide direct trading in BTC and ETH, with more cryptocurrencies to be added in the future as the platform expands. Traders will also be able to view and trade both crypto and non crypto products across all of Schwab’s platforms, including its website, Schwab Mobile, its mobile app, and thinkorswim, its advanced trading platform, with 24/7 professional support available to traders.

 

Through Schwab Coaching, its educational program, Charles Schwab will provide in depth digital assets education and resources, including insights and commentary from the Schwab Center for Financial Research and crypto focused content, all aimed at helping investors understand the digital assets market and how digital assets fit into a broader investing strategy.

 

How Schwab Crypto Works 

Through Charles Schwab Premier Bank (CSPB), Schwab clients will be given a separate crypto account for the purpose of trading on Schwab Crypto, the retail trading platform. However, this account will remain linked to the clients main brokerage accounts, with CSPB serving as the primary custodian of all client digital assets.

 

Paxos, a leading blockchain infrastructure company regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will be responsible for handling all trade execution and subcustody services.

 

Regarding Paxos’s role, Joe Vietri, Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets at Charles Schwab, said, “Paxos is a strong partner for blockchain infrastructure. Their regulatory standing and digital asset expertise will help us deliver the seamless, integrated experience our clients expect from Schwab.”

 

 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has just rolled out a new wallet feature to combat the rising cases of wrench attacks against crypto holders.

 

Announcing the launch of this feature, Binance wrote in a Monday blog post, “Most security advice you will read about crypto assumes that the threat is digital. Some of the main threats include malicious phishing links, imposter scams, SIM swaps, and compromised seed phrases, and the industry has built strong defenses against them.”

 

“But there is a category of risk that those defenses do not cover: physical coercion. These are situations where someone is pressured, in person, to move their own funds. Such cases are rare, but when they happen, the losses can be severe and irreversible.”

 

When activated, this new withdrawal protection feature blocks all on-chain withdrawals from a user's Binance account for a preset lockdown period, during which no one, not even the owner of the wallet, can move crypto assets out of the wallet.

 

The new withdrawal protection feature can be enabled from the settings section of the Binance wallet. While 48 hours is the default lockdown period, a user can choose to change this to anywhere between 1 and 7 days, depending on their preferences.

 

 

To enhance flexibility, Binance added a toggle feature that allows users to end the lockdown period early, especially in emergency cases when a user needs to move crypto assets from their wallet. It is also important to note that this feature only restricts withdrawals, thus users can still trade, hold positions, and carry out other in-wallet activities even when the withdrawal protection feature is enabled.

 

Crypto Wrench Attacks on the Rise

Crypto wrench attacks have steadily risen over the last few years. According to a CertiK report, there were 72 verified cases of physical attacks and coercion against crypto holders in 2025, an increase of nearly 71% from the 41 cases recorded the previous year, with losses amounting to over $41 million.

 

This year has not been an exception, as there have been several recorded cases of wrench attacks, with France being an epicenter of these attacks.

 

Just last month, a family of five in France was held captive by two men who invaded their home and extorted approximately €700,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.

 

In another attack in France, a mother and her son were kidnapped by four armed men who demanded about $471,000 for their release. The victims were held hostage for about 20 hours before they were eventually released, and the suspects were arrested by law enforcement officers.

 

 

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has partnered with the Optimism Foundation to build Giwa Chain, a new Ethereum-based Layer 2 blockchain network.

 

Giwa Chain, which will be built on Optimism’s open source OP Stack, will be the first of its kind built on the self-managed tier of Optimism’s OP Enterprise and stems from the growing need for exchanges to build their own blockchains.

 

 

While crypto exchanges using shared chains are not inherently problematic, issues arise as usage increases, making it difficult for these networks to handle the growing workloads of exchanges, including institutional transaction volumes, compliance requirements, and fee economics, which often compound as an exchange scales. For a global exchange like Upbit, which serves more than 13 million users and ranks among the top exchanges by spot trading volume, owning and managing its own blockchain is critical for performance and scalability.

 

By partnering with Optimism to build a self-managed chain, Upbit allows Optimism to manage key technical aspects of the chain’s infrastructure, including tooling and engineering support, while still retaining sovereignty over the chain’s control and overseeing key functions such as the primary sequencer, chain configuration, and operational authority.

 

“Operating our own Giwa Chain is a strategic move for Upbit. Our goal is to provide institutional and retail users with a level of performance and compliance consistent with our existing platform,” said Minseok Jung, Chief Operating Officer of Dunamu Inc.

 

“The Optimism Foundation’s self-managed tier provides a suitable framework, allowing us to maintain operational control while building on established infrastructure. This approach aligns with our requirements for scalability and oversight.”

 

Giwa Chain is currently live on testnet, with mainnet deployment to follow. Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit, has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Optimism Foundation on May 4, outlining key aspects of Giwa Chain, including its architecture reviews, performance benchmarking, and security audits.

 

Crypto Exchanges Building Their Own Chains

There has been an increase in the number of cryptocurrency exchanges building their own layer 2 blockchains, with many doing so for improved infrastructural performance and to gain control over fees, transaction sequencing, user experience, and compliance.

 

The OP Stack has been instrumental in this development, with the Optimism Foundation stating that its OP Stack currently houses over 32 layer 2 blockchain networks, including Binance’s opBNB chain, Kraken’s Ink chain, Gate.io’s Gate Layer, and OKX’s X Layer.

 

 

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has launched Agent Payments Protocol (APP), a new payment protocol that allows AI agents to perform commercial activities.

 

The new payment protocol, according to OKX, is an open standard that defines how AI agents communicate and negotiate, pay for services, and pay each other. It also, for the first time, allows AI agents to move beyond simple payments and into full-scale commerce.

 

 

“In the past few months, AI agents moved from answering questions to running workflows, managing business processes, and acting autonomously on behalf of users,” OKX wrote in a blog post. “The bottleneck shifted from intelligence to commerce - not just paying, but the full cycle of doing business: quoting, negotiating, escrowing funds, metering usage, settling, and resolving disputes.”

 

This existing problem among AI agents is what OKX aims to solve with its new Agent Payments Protocol (APP), allowing agents not only to manage single payment requests but also to manage payment requests across multiple levels.

 

Inside the Agent Payment Protocol

The agent payment protocol (APP) from OKX is an open standard designed to work across all chains, especially the Solana and Ethereum blockchains.

 

APP unlocks new capabilities for AI agents, making it possible for these agents to operate and communicate autonomously across the full commerce lifecycle, pay each other through agent-to-agent payments, and also allowing AI agents to perform upfront and top-up payments, including deductions.

 

At its implementation layer is the payment software development kit (SDK) that makes it possible for developers to accept and make agent payments with just a few lines of code. According to the blog announcement, the agent payment protocol supports a wide variety of payments, including one-time payments, batch payments, pay-as-you-go, and escrow payments, which OKX says is coming soon.

 

Embedded within the payment protocol is the OKX self-custodial agentic wallet, which supports over 20 blockchains. Since the wallet is secured by means of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), a hardware-based security environment, the wallet’s private keys and sensitive operations are kept highly secure.

 

Despite its early launch, the OKX agent payment protocol is currently supported by major cloud infrastructure firms, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Alibaba Cloud, as well as blockchain companies such as Uniswap, Paxos, MoonPay, Zerion, and Nansen.

 

With the launch of its payment protocol, OKX joins companies such as Coinbase, Stripe, and OpenAI, which have already launched their payment protocols, namely x402, Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), and Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), respectively.

 

 

South Korean fintech and payment company Toss is reportedly considering the launch of its own blockchain network and a native cryptocurrency token for its payment and financial services.

 

While preparations had already begun, Blockmedia, one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency media outlets, reports that the firm has not yet decided whether to launch a Layer 1 or Layer 2 blockchain, as decision-making has been paused amid delays in some compliance discussions.

 

By launching its own blockchain, Toss would be building a solid infrastructure for its super app, enabling the integration of several blockchain features, including on-chain finance, scalability, and smart contracts, into its existing payment system.

 

Toss: A Crypto-Friendly Fintech Platform

Despite operating mostly in the traditional finance space and amassing over 30 million registered users, about 60 percent of the population of South Korea, Toss has long been taking several pro-blockchain and crypto-friendly steps.

 

In June 2025, Toss, through its Stablecoin Task Force led by Chief Business Officer Kyuha Kim, filed 24 stablecoin applications with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the country’s trademark and patent authority, securing stablecoin names including TOSSKRW. During the same period, Toss Bank, its banking subsidiary, submitted 48 additional stablecoin-related applications.

 

These efforts were part of Toss’s broader strategy to establish a position in South Korea’s crypto sector as a potential issuer of Korean won-backed stablecoins. The company also began recruiting blockchain engineers to advance this initiative.

 

In March 2026, at the Seoul Blockchain Meetup Conference in Seoul, Toss unveiled its Money 3.0 vision, which it describes as the next era of money. 

 

According to Toss, this vision leverages blockchain and stablecoins to build a digital money system that combines programmability, borderless transactions, and composability, extending beyond the physical cash era of Money 1.0 and the electronic fiat money era of Money 2.0.

 

At the same event, Toss publicly announced plans to issue and distribute its Korean won-backed stablecoin.

 

Despite recent regulatory pressure on non-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, several fintech companies and banking institutions in the country, including Toss, have continued to adopt and integrate blockchain technology into their systems.

 

KakaoPay, a major domestic fintech company, recently joined the Coinbase-led x402 Foundation, a move that suggests potential future integration of blockchain technology into its payment systems. In addition, around eight domestic banks formed a consortium last year to jointly explore issuing Korean won-backed stablecoins.

 

 

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned crypto users about a fake token on the Tron blockchain impersonating the agency.

 

In a post on its New York X account, the FBI said some Tron users have received messages from scammers posing as the agency, asking them to complete an anti-money laundering verification to avoid having their assets frozen and falsely claiming their wallets are under investigation.

 

The FBI cautioned against falling for such scams. “If you receive a token from an account with the details below, do not provide any identifying information to any website associated with the token,” the agency said.

 

Users who have already sent their personal information to the scammers were urged to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

 

 

Inside Crypto Phishing Scams

The launch of the fake FBI token is one of several crypto phishing scams that have emerged in recent months. These scams often involve impersonating recognized government agencies, companies, or public figures, tricking users into giving up their personal credentials.

 

According to Scam Sniffer, about 106,106 victims were affected by crypto phishing scams in 2025, resulting in losses of approximately $83.85 million. 

 

Although this represents a significant drop compared to the $494 million in losses and 332,000 victims recorded the previous year, phishing remains widely used by attackers, especially with the growing use of AI-generated phishing campaigns.

 

 

FBI Created Fake Cryptocurrency Token

In 2024, the FBI created a fake artificial intelligence–related token, called NexFundAI, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency designed to catch scammers.

 

The NexFundAI token was part of Operation “Token Mirrors,” launched to identify and expose fraudulent market makers and manipulators, including those involved in wash trading and pump-and-dump schemes.

 

The operation was successful, as it led to the arrest of more than 18 individuals and the seizure of several million dollars from the suspects. 

 

 

A Bitcoin wallet holding 2,100 BTC (worth over $147 million) became active after more than 13 years of dormancy.

 

The wallet, identified by the address 1NB3ZXx…BQB6ZX, moved 0.00079 BTC (approximately $55.71) at 11:27 a.m. UTC on Friday, a tiny fraction of its total holdings. According to data from Bitinfocharts, the wallet received the 2,100 BTC in a single transaction on July 4, 2012.

 

At the time, Bitcoin was trading at $6.59, valuing the holdings at about $13,839. The wallet’s value has since increased by more than 10,000x, rising to over $147 million today.

 

Image credit: Bitinfocharts

 

This move did not go unnoticed in the crypto community, with many applauding the whale’s patience and others calling it one of the most effective trading strategies.

 

“13.7 years of silence… just to move $56. That’s not a sell signal — it’s a reminder of what conviction looks like in Bitcoin. From $6 to $75,000, the biggest returns didn’t come from trading… they came from time,” said Andy Wang, CEO of crypto platform HashWhale.

 

This isn’t the first Bitcoin whale wallet to be reactivated this year. In January, a 13-year-old dormant wallet moved 909 BTC, worth about $85 million, to a new address.

 

About a week ago, another Bitcoin whale that had been dormant for roughly two years transferred 343 BTC, worth approximately $23.85 million, between Binance and Cobo.

 

 

Bitcoin’s Price Action This Month

Despite experiencing significant volatility this month, Bitcoin has posted a net positive month-to-date gain.

 

Starting the month at around $67,000, Bitcoin dipped to $65,303 before surging to $74,000 days later, and was trading at $69,927 as of March 10. It also reached a peak of $75,988, with some analysts speculating about a potential breakout above $80,000.

 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is currently trading at around $69,807, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $39 billion and a market capitalization of nearly $1.396 trillion.

 

 

Cryptocurrency lending firm Blockfills, along with its operating company Reliz Ltd. and two affiliated entities, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware court.

 

According to the team, the filing was voluntary and in the best interests of the company and its customers. The decision, the firm said, was made after extensive discussions with investors, clients, creditors, and other stakeholders.

 

“This filing will allow the firm to implement an orderly restructuring while maintaining transparency and oversight through the court-supervised process,” Blockfills said.

 

 

 

"The bankruptcy filing was the best course of action after evaluating all available strategic and financial alternatives,” Blockfills said. The company now plans to restructure and stabilize the business while pursuing additional liquidity and recovery options.

 

In the filing, Blockfills estimated its assets at between $50 million and $100 million and its liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million, leaving a potential deficit of up to $450 million.

 

 

Blockfills Many Struggles 

The past few months have been tough for Blockfills. In February, the firm suspended customer withdrawals and deposits. According to the team, the move was intended to protect both the firm and its clients, given the impact of challenging market conditions on its liquidity.

 

Blockfills also suffered huge financial losses, reportedly losing about $75 million from its lending and other crypto services. The firm is facing a lawsuit from Dominion Capital, which alleges that it mishandled and commingled customers’ funds, prompting a U.S. federal judge to freeze approximately 70.6 bitcoins linked to the company.

 

 

Past Bankruptcy Cases

Blockfill isn’t the first crypto lending firm to file for bankruptcy. In 2022, Celsius Network, one of the largest crypto lenders, froze withdrawals in mid-year and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July amid harsh market conditions. 

 

Court filings revealed the company had about $4.3 billion in assets and $5.5 billion in liabilities, leaving a deficit of roughly $1.2 billion. Celsius eventually shut down in February 2024.

 

Several other crypto lending companies also filed for bankruptcy in 2022, including BlockFi, Voyager Digital, Three Arrows Capital, and Hodlnaut. Some of these companies attempted to restructure and resume operations, but none succeeded, with all eventually shutting down.

 

 

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme, claiming it has far less value than gold and even Pokémon cards, which he said are more widely recognized.

 

 

 

In a recent Daily Mail article, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme with no real value, saying it relied on a “supply of new and credulous investors.” He also shared the story of a friend who lost about $26,000 in a crypto investment scam.

 

Johnson shared a story about a retired man from a village in Oxfordshire who initially handed over £500 (about $661) to someone who promised to double the money through Bitcoin investments. Johnson said the man went on to invest £20,000 (around $26,450) over three and a half years but ultimately received nothing in return.

 

The former prime minister also questioned the credibility of Bitcoin, calling it “a string of numbers stored in a series of computers.” “Who can we turn to if someone decrypts the crypto?” Johnson asked. “There’s no one except Nakamoto, who might be nothing more than Pikachu or Charmander.”

 

Since the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, lacked institutional backing, Johnson questioned Bitcoin’s credibility as a tradable asset. According to Johnson, Pokémon cards, which fascinated children thirty years ago and still do today, are a more tradable asset than Bitcoin.

 

“These curious little Japanese cartoon beasties hold the same fascination for five-year-olds as they did 30 years ago. The kids are obsessed with them. They boast and squabble about them,” Boris said.

 

“Even if you remain pretty impervious to the charm of Pikachu, you can just about see why a decades-old Pikachu card is still a tradeable asset,” he added.

 

 

The Crypto Community Responded

While many social media users have ridiculed Boris’ understanding of cryptocurrency, some have offered clearer explanations of why Bitcoin cannot be called a Ponzi scheme.

 

Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy, also sought to clarify the issue.

 

“Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi requires a central operator promising returns and paying early investors with funds from later ones,” Saylor wrote on X.

 

“Bitcoin has no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed return—just an open, decentralized monetary network driven by code and market demand,” he added.

 

 

An X user with the username "Sillytuna" has reportedly lost $24 million in Aave Ethereum USDC (aEthUSDC) in an attack that involved a combination of violence, sexual assault, weapons, and threats to life.

 

 

"Bruised, held off while I could, but can't do that much with axes over your hands and feet," Sillytuna wrote. The user further stated that he was, at this point, done with crypto. In his words, "And now... definitely out of crypto ****ers."

 

While the matter has already been reported to law enforcement, no official statement has been issued by the authorities. However, the X user has announced a 10% bounty for whoever helps recover the stolen funds.

 

 

 

How the Crypto Community Reacted

Shortly after the news went viral, the crypto community reacted with mixed feelings, with many commiserating with the user over their loss. Some also raised awareness about the deplorable state of security in the United Kingdom. Apparently, the victim is a UK resident.

 

 

Amid the sympathy from the global crypto community, some, however, doubted the authenticity of the victim's story.

 

According to YokaiCapital, an X user, the victim had not posted anything about crypto before. He also alleges that the victim's account appears to have been bought recently.

 

"He will probably shill the coin at some point or say that he will take donations from the coin," YokaiCapital went on to write. 

 

However, the victim has denied allegations that he intentionally wanted to trend and claims the stolen funds were long-term holdings.

 

 

How the Attackers Moved the Stolen Funds

Tracking the stolen funds, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence said that the attackers moved the funds across Layer 2 networks, Bitcoin, and Monero, obviously to evade trail.

 

 

 

Roughly $20 million of the stolen funds were stored in two Ethereum addresses as DAI, a stablecoin on the Ethereum network, while $2.48 million was bridged to USDC on Arbitrum.

 

Arkham reported that the attackers sent $2.47 million to Hyperliquid through 19 separate Wagyu accounts, which were used to convert the funds to Monero (XMR).

 

The attackers also bridged $1.1 million to the Bitcoin blockchain using LiFi, noting that 0.5 BTC was deposited into a mixing service, Arkham added.