ChainCatcher’s roundup of the past 24 hours touched nearly every corner of the crypto market: macro-driven price moves, ETF flows, security incidents, infrastructure shutdowns, AI spending, semiconductors, and new token launches.
Bitcoin falls toward $79,700 as oil rises on U.S.-Iran tensions
Bitcoin fell nearly 1% to around $79,700, according to ChainCatcher, after an escalation in tensions between the United States and Iran pushed oil prices higher. U.S. Central Command said it struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday near Khark Island, near Jask, and in the Gulf of Oman.
Admiral Brad Cooper said the U.S. would impose a higher economic cost if Iran attacks American ships. CENTCOM also updated its maritime interdiction figures, saying that since operations resumed on July 14, 92 commercial vessels have been rerouted, three have been disabled, and two have been boarded and inspected.
Oil prices rose 1% in both U.S. and European markets, with WTI at $92.72. The report said WTI was up more than 6% over the first seven days of September. In the source text, higher oil is described as a factor that could intensify global inflation and make it harder for central banks, including the Federal Reserve, to cut rates.
The report also noted that U.S. August jobs data released Friday came in stronger than expected, reinforcing expectations for Fed tightening. Donald Trump then posted on Truth Social calling for rate cuts, saying a strong country means lower interest rates. The source said that uncertainty could restrain appetite for Bitcoin and other risk assets. Late Sunday, Liquid Network, which is used by exchanges as a settlement layer, was also hit by a $320 million attack.
Vitalik Buterin rejects claim that AI could crush Bitcoin
Silicon Valley angel investor Liron Shapira wrote on X that he had “50% confidence” Bitcoin could lose more than 50% within two years because AI would undermine what people believed were Bitcoin’s security and resilience guarantees.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded with the opposite view. He said: “I have the exact opposite opinion. My basic reason is that over the long term, I am quite optimistic about cybersecurity, and I think the main challenge is how to get through the transition smoothly. Also, I think BTC can at least properly handle all the issues that do not require social consensus to solve... and I think the probability of the hash algorithm or proof-of-work actually being broken is extremely small. I wanted to bet with you, but given my current asset allocation ... I’ve already put about 90% of my net worth on this bet.”
Zcash hits its highest level since 2016 as market cap tops $20 billion
Zcash (ZEC) climbed to its highest level since 2016 and pushed its market capitalization above $20 billion. CoinGecko data cited by ChainCatcher showed ZEC briefly touched $1,249.28 before easing to around $1,195. It was up about 45% over the past week and 138% over 30 days.
Even so, the price remained below its all-time high of $3,191.93 set on Oct. 28, 2016. The report said the latest rally was driven mainly by Grayscale’s conversion of its Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. The product, trading under the ticker ZCSH, began trading on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25, giving investors brokerage-account access to ZEC exposure. It closed at $83.77 last Friday with $463.2 million in assets under management.
Zcash allows users to choose between public transactions and shielded transactions. The shielded option uses zero-knowledge proofs to validate payments without exposing the sender, receiver, or transaction amount. Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl said in an Aug. 31 note that this could become a “must-have” feature for privacy-focused users. He also said AI may increase demand for financial privacy by making it easier to connect public blockchain activity to real-world identities.
KB Securities warns Samsung and SK Hynix memory inventories are below 10 days
KB Securities warned that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have memory semiconductor inventories equal to less than 10 days of supply, and that available supply next year will be visibly tight.
In a Monday report, the brokerage said AI infrastructure investment is expanding at an unprecedented pace and that the memory chip market is facing a severe supply shortage. A key reason is the shift to HBM4. The report said HBM4 requires roughly three times the wafer input of traditional DRAM, and wafer capacity constraints will reduce the capacity available for conventional DRAM production.
KB Securities expects DRAM and NAND demand next year to exceed supply by more than 10 percentage points. Research head Kim Dong-won said AI servers will consume HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise SSDs, potentially causing a historic shortage.
Global hyperscale data center operators have raised their projected AI infrastructure investment for next year to $1.3 trillion, up 60% year over year. KB Securities estimates memory semiconductors will account for 57% of total AI infrastructure investment next year, up from 14% last year, while TrendForce estimates the share could be as high as 68%. Samsung shares are down nearly 28% from their high, and SK Hynix is down nearly 40%.
Galaxy Research tracks more Coldcard funds into cross-chain and mixing routes
Galaxy Research said attackers tied to the Coldcard “Wave 3” incident are still moving stolen funds. In that phase, the attackers created 293 separate 2-of-2 multisig vaults tied to victims’ assets.
The first batch of funds moved to Ethereum through THORChain. The latest transfers began entering CoinJoin mixing flows. According to the report, the attackers are processing the largest vaults first and have already moved vaults ranked No. 1 through No. 11 by stolen amount.
The next 10 unmoved vaults hold a combined 30.81 BTC, while vaults ranked No. 61 through No. 293 hold a total of 33.77 BTC. So far, about 45% of the stolen assets from this exploit have been moved, either to Ethereum via THORChain or into CoinJoin transactions.
Galaxy Research also identified a previously unknown vault. Fifty-eight addresses spent funds in the same 2-of-2 multisig format seen in Wave 3, and those funds were later sent by the attacker to a hop address used to fund CoinJoin. The analytics team labeled the vault with “cause = open” but said it likely also belongs to a Coldcard victim. If confirmed, the number of Wave 3 vaults would rise to 294 and the previously reported total stolen in the Coldcard exploit would increase to about 1,806 BTC. At present, about 82% of the stolen BTC remains at addresses originally controlled by the attacker, while about 18% has been moved.
TSMC and Micron expansion lifts semiconductor engineering backlogs above NT$880 billion
TSMC, Micron and other companies are increasing capital spending for expansion, and that has pushed combined backlog orders at five semiconductor facility engineering firms above NT$880 billion, according to ChainCatcher. The companies named were United Integrated Services, L&K Engineering, Marketech, Yankey Engineering, and Saint Shine.
TSMC said at a semiconductor exhibition that it has as many as 20 wafer fabs under construction. It added that the scale of capacity buildout has multiplied from the past, yet still cannot satisfy customer demand. U.S. tariff policy was also described as a driver of plant construction demand in the United States.
L&K Engineering has the largest backlog at NT$440.073 billion. Chairman Yao Tsu-hsiang said turnkey contracts won in Singapore over the past four years could reach a cumulative NT$600 billion, with room for further awards. United Integrated Services has backlog orders of about NT$193.937 billion, also a record, helped by sustained fab construction from key customers including TSMC and Micron.
Marketech’s backlog reached a record NT$135.1 billion. Chairman Kao Hsin-ming said order visibility extends at least to 2028, and customer projects for 2029 and 2030 are already in planning. The company has prepared materials, labor and local construction teams to support customer expansion in Taiwan, Arizona, Japan and Germany, and is also investing in technologies such as CoPoS.
Saint Shine’s backlog exceeded NT$60 billion, with Taiwan accounting for 68% and semiconductor orders 63% of the total. Its first-half net profit was NT$2.944 billion and earnings per share were NT$23.73, both record highs for the same period. Yankey reported first-half net profit of NT$2.317 billion and EPS of NT$17.46, with backlog at about NT$51.77 billion and visibility through the end of 2027.
Router Protocol to shut down and burn 303.3 million ROUTE tokens
Router Protocol, a cross-chain infrastructure project backed by Coinbase Ventures, said it will wind down all operations by Sept. 30 and permanently burn 303,333,198 ROUTE tokens held in treasury. That amount equals about 30% of the token’s nearly 1 billion total supply.
The team said on X that over the past year it had tried commercialization, licensing, and acquisition talks, but none produced a sustainable operating outcome. It identified the movement of capital from crypto into AI, along with lower fees for cross-chain asset transfers, as core challenges. The team also said demand for its services had declined as activity concentrated on fewer networks and more standardized infrastructure.
In its words, bridge economics offered thin profits: fees kept getting compressed while costs did not stop. As part of the shutdown, Router said it would work with centralized exchanges to end support for ROUTE, though delisting schedules and withdrawal procedures may differ by venue.
Router raised $4.1 million in 2021 from investors including Coinbase Ventures and Polygon. It launched the proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain Router Chain in July 2024, then shut it down in September 2025, citing infrastructure costs, validator bloat, and security risks. The team also disclosed two security incidents in 2025: a February bug incident in which about 80% of value was recovered through negotiation, and a July chain-level exploit in which losses were not recovered.
Wall Street Journal: Hunter Biden plans Base meme coin called LAPTOP
The Wall Street Journal reported that Hunter Biden, son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, plans to launch a meme coin called LAPTOP, named after his laptop controversy. The token is scheduled to go live on Coinbase’s Base network on Sept. 9.
The founding team, including Hunter Biden, will hold 30% of the 1 billion token supply. Those tokens will be locked for six months and fully unlocked over two years. Another 20% will be distributed in two airdrops to users who previously lost money on Donald Trump’s meme coin TRUMP, Hunter Biden’s Substack subscribers and friends, and users on a mailing list maintained by video journalist Andrew Callaghan.
The remaining 20% will be used for charitable donations, liquidity, distribution to exchange partners and market makers, and the accounting, legal, administrative and compliance costs of the token foundation.
The report said the founding team also agreed on a burn system tied to 30 preset events. If the events reach the specified outcomes within the stated time frames — such as Democrats winning the 2028 U.S. presidential election, Bitcoin setting a new all-time high, or LAPTOP’s fully diluted valuation exceeding TRUMP’s — as much as 30% of the token supply could be burned. If those conditions are not met, the corresponding tokens would instead be donated to charity on a proportional basis.
The Wall Street Journal also said Hunter Biden has recently appeared often on podcasts and news programs and has been writing on Substack about crypto. The report noted that he had also commented on the controversy involving the Trump family’s crypto project World Liberty Financial and Justin Sun.
Malone Lam to appear at plea hearing in $240 million Bitcoin theft case
According to AP News, a young crypto fraud group stole more than 4,100 BTC in August 2024 through social engineering attacks, worth more than $240 million at the time.
After the theft, the group quickly moved into extravagant spending, buying supercars, renting luxury homes, flying on private jets, and hiring security staff. Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singaporean accused of being the ringleader, allegedly spent more than $569,000 in one night at a Los Angeles nightclub.
Investigators said the suspects impersonated employees of Google and crypto exchange Gemini, persuading the victim to hand over Google Drive access and security codes. That allowed them to move the victim’s Bitcoin. The proceeds were then transferred through multiple trading platforms and money laundering intermediaries.
One suspect exposed an IP address while hiding nearly $30 million in stolen crypto assets, which led police to a rented mansion in California. Another suspect was found with $37 million in stolen crypto assets. Lam is accused of using stolen funds to buy $2 million worth of watches and more than 30 Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ferrari vehicles.
Eighteen defendants have now been charged. Lam is expected to appear at a plea agreement hearing on Tuesday. U.S. authorities have already sentenced several co-conspirators, and related cases are still moving forward.
Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs extend inflow streaks to three weeks
SoSoValue data showed that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $987 million in net inflows over the past trading week, their third consecutive week of net inflows.
BlackRock’s IBIT led with $692 million in weekly net inflows and has now accumulated $64.06 billion in lifetime net inflows. Ark & 21Shares’ ARKB followed with $138 million, bringing its cumulative net inflows to $1.46 billion. Grayscale’s GBTC posted the largest weekly outflow at $47.9921 million, lifting its cumulative net outflows to $27.65 billion.
As of publication, spot Bitcoin ETFs held $101.25 billion in net assets, and their net asset ratio, measured against Bitcoin’s total market capitalization, stood at 6.33%. Historical cumulative net inflows reached $55.62 billion.
Spot Ethereum ETFs also drew fresh money, with $218 million in weekly net inflows, marking a third straight week in positive territory. BlackRock’s ETHA led with $136 million and has reached $12.87 billion in lifetime net inflows. BlackRock’s ETHB followed with $81.8506 million, bringing its cumulative total to $775 million. Grayscale’s ETHE had the largest weekly outflow at $36.9659 million, with lifetime net outflows now at $5.38 billion.
At press time, spot Ethereum ETFs held $15.57 billion in net assets, with an ETF net asset ratio of 5.2% relative to Ethereum’s total market capitalization. Cumulative historical net inflows reached $13.19 billion.
JCET plans to raise RMB 6.5 billion for AI packaging expansion
Chinese semiconductor packaging and testing company JCET said on Sept. 7 that it plans to raise up to RMB 6.5 billion, or about $968 million, through a private share placement. The funds will be used to expand advanced packaging capacity for AI chips and support related technology research and development.
The proceeds are mainly earmarked for production lines focused on AI computing chips, including high-density system-in-package and wafer-level packaging. JCET said existing capacity is already close to full utilization as customers including Nvidia and AMD increase demand. The plan still requires approval from shareholders and regulators.
Lummis says failure to pass Clarity Act now could delay next opening until 2030
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said on social media that if the Clarity Act fails to pass in the current Congress, the next real chance to reintroduce market structure legislation may not come until 2030. She said getting the work done now would avoid wasting years of jobs, investment, and tax revenue.
CITIC Securities says markets are waiting for Sept. 11 CPI release
CITIC Securities said in a research note that U.S. nonfarm payroll gains for August 2026 were well above expectations, with leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and a rebound in local government education jobs contributing meaningfully. Within the private sector, goods-producing employment rose for a sixth straight month, which the firm said may reflect U.S. data center construction demand. Employment in finance and information technology fell, which the note linked to AI’s impact.
The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, or 4.14% when measured to two decimal places. Labor force participation rose from 61.4% to 61.6%, while the continuing decline in participation among workers aged 45 to 54 still needs monitoring. The firm said stronger payrolls and dovish remarks from Fed Governor Christopher Waller offset each other, leaving markets pricing the probability of a September rate hike at about 60%. The next focus is the Aug. CPI report due Sept. 11.
SideSwap says customer redeemed 4,000 vulnerability-minted L-BTC
SideSwap said in a statement that at 14:05 UTC a customer sent 4,000 L-BTC to its peg-out service. The service processed the request as normal, burning the L-BTC on Liquid with valid peg-out authorization, and at 14:28 UTC Liquid Federation paid 3,996 BTC to the customer’s Bitcoin address.
Blockstream later confirmed the L-BTC had been minted via an Elements software vulnerability. SideSwap said its peg-out authorization key and systems were not compromised, and that the service could not distinguish those tokens from any other L-BTC. It added that SideSwap is non-custodial, user wallets were not affected, and assets remain controlled by users’ own keys.
Liquid has now been paused by the Federation. SideSwap said swaps, peg-ins and peg-outs will remain suspended until the network is restored. Peg-outs already completed on Bitcoin are unaffected. Incomplete peg-ins or peg-outs can be handled individually by sending the transaction ID to hello@sideswap.io. The company told users not to send new peg-in or peg-out deposits until service resumes.
Antarctic Exchange raises $7 million at a $70 million valuation
Dealroom reported that Singapore-based decentralized perpetuals exchange Antarctic Exchange raised $7 million at a $70 million valuation. Investors included Valisa Capital Markets, Lucidity Capital, Republic Crypto, and proprietary traders making their first move into digital assets.
The platform targets retail derivatives traders and offers tools similar to those found on centralized exchanges. Its founding team includes former executives from OKX, Binance, and MEXC.
Ethereum schedules Frame Transactions for 2027 Hegotá upgrade
CoinDesk reported that Ethereum core developers have placed EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, into the 2027 Hegotá upgrade plan. During the Aug. 27 core developers call, the proposal was marked “Scheduled for Inclusion,” meaning it moved beyond candidate status and into the planned network update.
Vitalik Buterin, one of the proposal’s 10 authors, said on X on Sunday night that Frames had made major progress in recent months.
Frames are meant to address a familiar problem: users hold stablecoins in their wallets but cannot send transactions because they do not have ETH for gas. The design splits a transaction into separate steps for authorization verification, fee payment, and instruction execution, so the sender and the fee payer do not need to be the same account. A payments app could cover the fee itself, or collect stablecoins from the user and settle the ETH bill on the user’s behalf. The Ethereum network would still be priced in ETH, but the user would not need to buy ETH first.
Unlike current wallet solutions that depend on third-party services, Frames would bring that ability into Ethereum’s regular transaction flow. The proposal would also bundle actions that must succeed together, such as token approval and submission during a token trade. If the trade fails, the approval would be rolled back. It would also let accounts define their own approval rules, making key rotation or quantum-resistant key adoption possible without moving funds to a new address. The specification is still in draft form, and details may change before Hegotá goes live. Users cannot use Frames yet.
Binance Research says crypto market cap rose 17.6% in August to $2.7 trillion
Binance Research said in its monthly market report that total crypto market capitalization rose 17.6% in August to $2.7 trillion, and that ETF inflows for the month were the strongest of 2026 so far.
The report said BTC gained 24.8% over one seven-day stretch, putting it in the top 1% of weekly gains since 2020. On allocation trends, holders of stock-related assets raised their crypto allocation from 64% to 72%, while stablecoin allocation fell 22%. The share of trading volume in TradFi perpetual contracts fell from 40% to 20%, indicating that capital and trading activity moved back toward crypto assets.
Binance opens beta testing for Binance AI
Binance said in an official announcement that it has launched an AI product suite called Binance AI and opened beta testing. The company said the goal is to help users interpret complex market data, identify market developments, and reduce noise.
According to Binance, the product will offer a personalized information interface, AI market insights covering both crypto and traditional assets, and concise real-time market updates. Early users can apply to join the test, and those placed on the whitelist will receive access instructions by email.
For now, Binance AI Beta is open only to Binance users who have completed identity verification. Access is limited and will be released in batches. Binance said submitting an application does not guarantee access, and that user feedback will help shape the product.
Blockstream tells white hat it is safe to return 4,000 BTC
Bitcoin News reported that Blockstream informed a white-hat hacker that the vulnerability tied to the recent Liquid incident had been fixed and that 4,000 BTC could now be safely returned. The hacker, who had extracted about 4,000 BTC from the Liquid Network, had said the funds would be returned after the issue was patched. The negotiations were conducted publicly through Bitcoin OP_RETURN messages.
The hacker initially proposed returning “most” of the BTC, then later insisted on a fix first, writing: “Please patch the bug first. The latest code submitted puts the chain at risk. Make sure every node is patched, and once we confirm the fix we will safely return the funds.”
The hacker also sent Blockstream encrypted details of the vulnerability. About two hours before the report, Blockstream replied in a PGP-signed OP_RETURN message: “The bridge nodes have been patched, funds can be returned safely.” At the time of the report, 3,998.5 BTC remained under the hacker’s control.
Hacken says roughly half of USDT can be controlled by two signing keys
Blockchain security firm Hacken said in an assessment report that about half of the USDT in circulation — around $91.3 billion on Tron — is controlled by a 2-of-3 multisig contract with no built-in delay, cancellation flow, or reliable rollback mechanism.
According to Hacken, an attacker who compromises two signing keys could change contract ownership, mint tokens, freeze addresses, erase frozen balances, or set transfer fees, all without touching a user wallet. The report also said Tether reuses the same set of six signing keys across Ethereum, Avalanche, and Celo, creating a risk path that could spread across chains.
At the same time, stablecoin rating agency Bluechip upgraded Tether’s corporate rating from D to C after a KPMG audit showed reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. Bluechip said this was the first time it had used an expanded SMIDGE methodology that incorporates Hacken’s technical risk analysis.
Still, Hacken gave USDT a cybersecurity score of only 3.3 out of 10. It said USDT smart contracts have no automatic reserve-proof check and no token minting cap. Once signers authorize a transaction, the contract can mint any amount of tokens without requiring proof of matching bank reserves. Hacken said it has not yet completed an equivalent assessment for Circle’s USDC. Bluechip’s earlier B+ rating for USDC was based on an older methodology and should not be used as a direct technical comparison.
Rocket blockchain exploited for about $287,000
Layer 1 blockchain Rocket said it suffered an on-chain attack on Sept. 5, resulting in losses of about $287,000. The attacker exploited a dormant perpetuals market on Rocket by posting artificially inflated price orders through a disposable account and trading against itself. That created fake profits on one account while bankrupting the throwaway account. The attacker then withdrew roughly $287,000 in profits through the bridge.
All deposits, withdrawals, and trading have been suspended. The team said it is working with security firms and law enforcement and is coordinating with exchanges, bridges, and stablecoin issuers to trace and freeze the stolen funds. Rocket said a recovery plan is being drafted and that smaller accounts will be prioritized for refunds.
OpenAI chief scientist says AI may keep climbing toward recursive self-improvement
OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki published an article on Sept. 6, 2026 titled An Alien Mind. In it, he looked back at the RLSlow project in mid-2023, which he said first produced results showing reasoning models could be trained at scale. Three years later, he wrote, reasoning language models have become part of fast economic growth, are starting to push the boundaries of science, can operate computers and graphical interfaces, collaborate with people and other AIs, and run research projects, while also changing the computer security environment and creating new dangers.
Based on internal results, Pachocki said he expects the current pace of progress could continue into recursive self-improvement. If AI continues on its current path, systems could see equally large or larger jumps in capability over the next few years and increasingly drive their own development. He called for extreme caution and said no one is prepared for the consequences of sustained rapid growth in machine intelligence.
OpenAI said it will keep pursuing technical solutions for alignment and monitoring, build defensive systems, and unilaterally stop further scaling if necessary, while also arguing that broader intervention is needed. The article said machine intelligence is driven mainly by increased compute, and that AI is more grown than designed.
On alignment, the article distinguished between goal alignment and value alignment and said generalization remains the core challenge. GPT-6 Astra was described as much better aligned than GPT-5.6 Sol, though more progress is still needed. On monitoring, OpenAI said it is mainly relying on chain-of-thought monitoring, while evaluations suggest that dependence is gradually weakening. On scalable defense, the article said models are becoming superhuman at breaking into computer systems, and that the current moment is a narrow window in which the best available models can still significantly strengthen the security of critical systems.
TSMC’s third-quarter 3nm output value may top NT$400 billion
Economic Daily News reported that rising demand from AI and high-performance computing applications is leading TSMC to add more capacity for process nodes below 3nm at customer request. According to the report, market participants expect 3nm revenue contribution in the second half of the year to surpass 5nm for the first time. Third-quarter output value for 3nm is estimated to top NT$400 billion for the first time, account for more than 30% of revenue, and support gross margin performance.
Ukrainian police bust crypto fraud network stealing up to $1 million a month
Ukrainian police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) dismantled a fraud network that used fake investment platforms to steal crypto. The scheme relied on websites posing as investment platforms. When users tried to withdraw funds, they were prompted to connect their main wallet and approve a small test transaction. A hidden wallet drainer on the site then automatically moved funds into wallets controlled by the operators before the victims were removed from the platform.
Investigators have identified 62 victims so far and said the group involved more than 46 Ukrainian citizens. The network was stealing as much as $1 million per month. Police said the fake profits displayed on the platform were part of the scam, with operators manually creating transactions and adjusting account balances to fabricate the appearance of investment gains.
Beyond crypto theft, the sites also collected victims’ passport data, phone numbers, email addresses, login credentials, and photos during registration and identity verification. The alleged organizer was identified as a 25-year-old IT specialist who recruited more than 46 Ukrainian citizens and ran multiple offices in and around Kyiv. Members were assigned roles covering website construction and maintenance, outreach to potential victims, and security.
Victims came from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and other countries. Police traced the group’s server equipment to the Netherlands and obtained databases stored there, including victim lists, crypto wallet addresses, alleged stolen amounts, internal communications, and platform operating information. Ukrainian police and the SBU then carried out 34 searches in and around Kyiv, seizing more than 100 computers, more than 100 mobile phones, 79 SIM cards, documents, cash, and 15 vehicles.
Polish prosecutors charge fifth suspect in Zondacrypto case
CoinDesk reported that Polish prosecutors have charged Roman Ż., a former business partner of missing BitBay/Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek. He faces two counts, including fraud.
Roman Ż. was arrested last Saturday in Poland’s Silesia region. His lawyer said he had helped manage the exchange before BitBay was renamed Zonda. Roman Ż. denied the charges and gave investigators a detailed statement. During searches, police seized valuable watches and documents related to Zondacrypto.
Prosecutors said they ordered the arrest because they feared Roman Ż. might flee after learning that he planned to travel to China. His lawyer said the trip was for business and that he held a return ticket dated Sept. 13. A court will decide whether he remains in custody during the investigation.
BitBay rebranded to Zondacrypto in 2021. The exchange halted trading in April after customers encountered frozen withdrawals, with losses expected to total at least 35 million zloty, or about $94 million. Estonia’s financial intelligence unit partially suspended the license of brand entity BB Trade Estonia OÜ. Polish prosecutors are investigating suspected large-scale fraud and money laundering, and had received more than 3,600 complaints by June.
The case is also linked to Suszek’s disappearance in March 2022. Prosecutors merged the Zondacrypto investigation with the missing-person case in August.
Binance Wallet says it prevented $540 million in potential user losses in H1
Binance said its Wallet Security Center helped users avoid about $540 million in potential losses in the first half of 2026 by scanning links, transaction signatures, and unknown tokens in real time.
During the period, the system filtered about 206 million spam transfers affecting 2.6 million users, identified about 4.93 million high-risk transactions across 19 chains, and detected about 996,000 malicious approvals.
Binance said attackers are now using AI to mass-produce malicious code, spoofed websites, and fake identities, shifting on-chain attacks from broad net casting to targeted operations. The Binance Wallet Security Center is also using AI to analyze token behavior logic, website risk features, and potential attack intent in order to identify phishing domains, malicious contracts, and abnormal token risks earlier.
Zhihu plans RMB 1.5 billion commitment to AI and frontier technology fund
Yahoo Finance reported that Zhihu said in a filing that its wholly owned subsidiary entered into a subscription agreement with a general partner and fund manager to subscribe, using its own capital, for limited partnership interests in a fund worth RMB 1.5 billion.
After completion, Zhihu expects to hold no more than 30% of the fund. The fund will have a seven-year term, extendable by up to two years, and a four-year investment period. It will mainly invest in early- and mid-stage unlisted companies in mainland China focused on AI and frontier technology, including foundation models, AI infrastructure, robotics, and AI applications.
Meme token leaderboard and reading picks
According to GMGN market data as of 08:54 on Sept. 8, the five hottest ETH-based tokens over the past 24 hours were STOCKER, LINK, UNI, KLIK, and CRV. On Solana, the top five were STONK, Nasduck, TRONK, OTC, and CatGPT. On Base, they were Basecat, STONKEX, FLOCK, SOL, and MOONBASE.
The roundup also highlighted several articles for further reading, including a piece on trader AJC and Robinhood Chain trading logic, a discussion of what Solana is anxious about, an analysis of whether NEAR is benefiting from the ZEC rally, a report on OpenAI’s disclosed RSI progress, and an article discussing Jensen Huang, AGI, OpenAI Astra, and the coming deployment of 400,000 GPUs.