Coindesk

Over $1 million has been siphoned from unsuspecting crypto users through malicious smart contracts posing as MEV trading bots, according to a new report by SentinelLABS.The campaign leveraged AI-generated YouTube videos, aged accounts, and obfuscated Solidity code to bypass basic user scrutiny and gain access to crypto wallets.Scammers appeared to be using AI-generated avatars and voices to reduce production costs and scale up video content.These tutorials are published on aged YouTube accounts populated with unrelated content and manipulated comment sections to give the illusion of credibility. In some cases, the videos are unlisted and likely distributed via Telegram or DMs.At the center of the scam was a smart contract promoted as a profitable arbitrage bot. Victims were instructed via YouTube...

KakaoBank is preparing to enter South Korea’s fast-growing stablecoin sector, according to local reports.In its first-half earnings call on Tuesday, KakaoBank CFO Kwon Tae-hoon said the firm is “actively considering” roles in both stablecoin issuance and custody, with participation aligned to the country’s shifting digital asset policies.“We plan to engage actively in line with market changes,” Kwon said, adding that KakaoBank’s internal task force is working with other Kakao units to consolidate strategy.Join the crypto policy conversation Sept. 10 in D.C. — Register now for CoinDesk: Policy & Regulation.The move adds a regulated online bank to the list of Korean fintechs jumping into the stablecoin race after the Bank of Korea (BOK) shelved its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot in...

XRP rose 3% in the 24 hours through August 7, advancing from $2.91 to as high as $3.02 before closing at $2.98. The move broke through multiple short-term resistance levels and coincided with high-volume buying activity, particularly on Korean exchanges. Technical momentum aligns with key macro developments: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is set to deliberate on Ripple’s appeal withdrawal, while Japan’s SBI Holdings has filed for a Bitcoin-XRP ETF.News BackgroundThe SEC is expected to deliberate Ripple’s decision to withdraw its appeal at 03:00 UTC on August 7, ahead of a broader ruling expected by mid-month. The hearing could lock in XRP’s non-security status under U.S. law—an outcome that removes a longstanding regulatory overhang. Meanwhile, SBI Holdings’ ETF application...

Bitcoin's (BTC) volatility meltdown continues as the cryptocurrency remains stagnant, with slow price action between $110,000 and $120,000.The cryptocurrency's 30-day implied volatility, as represented by Volmex's BVIV index, fell to an annualized 36.5% late on Wednesday, reaching levels last seen in October 2023, when BTC was trading below $30,000, according to data source TradingView.The new multi-year low in implied volatility suggests that options traders are not yet rushing for hedges, despite U.S. economic data raising concerns about stagflation. The demand for options, which are contracts used to hedge against or profit from price swings, is a major driver of an asset's implied volatility.The same thing can be said about stocks, where the VIX index has reversed Friday's spike from 17...

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.Bitcoin (BTC) is treading water around $115K Thursday morning in Asia, up 1% in the last 24 hours, as the post-all-time-high correction continues to play out across low volume and weak conviction.According to Glassnode, BTC has entered what it calls an “air gap”, a low-liquidity zone between $110,000 and $116,000, after breaking down from a major supply cluster where short-term holders had previously found support.These areas typically see little trading activity and can either serve as a base...