"Feds seize $61M in USDT from fraud" Feb 25, 2026

Today's blockchain and crypto news South Korean police arrest two over theft of 22 BTC Feds seize $61M in USDT over fraud Stripe expresses interest in PayPal Senator Richard Blumenthal opens inquiry into Binance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  It's 8 a.m. Eastern, February the 25th, and this is your daily crypto report. South Korean police arrested two people in connection with the alleged theft of 22 BTC worth about $1.5 million at current prices from a cold wallet kept at Gangnam Police Station, according to local outlet. After coins seized years earlier were only recently discovered missing, the Bitcoin was originally seized in November 2021 during an investigation tied to the ACOIN Foundation. The report says police botched chain of custody by storing the seized crypto on a cold wallet provided by the Foundation itself, rather than on a secure state-controlled device. The suspects reportedly linked to the ACOIN Foundation are accused under the Information

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  and Communications Network Act of leaking the coins, allegedly by using the wallet's mnemonic recovery phrase. The report also notes that the original detective on the 2021 case identified only as D. A former senior superintendent is currently in prison after being indicted on bribery tied to the foundation and sentenced to 18 months. Well, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of North Carolina said on Wednesday that agents seized more than $61 million in USD T tied to a pig butchering crypto investment fraud network after Homeland Security investigations traced victim money through a web of wallets allegedly used to launder proceeds from victims lured online to fake trading platforms. Investigators followed the flow of funds as it was moved through multiple layers of addresses to obscure its source, identified wallets still holding substantial balances,

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  and seized them for forfeiture. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said the action was aimed at taking the profit out of crime. The announcement also situates the case among a broader wave of large crypto forfeitures. Stripe has expressed preliminary interest in acquiring all or part of PayPal, according to Bloomberg citing anonymous sources, as Stripe simultaneously announced a Tinder offer to provide liquidity to current and former employees at a $159 billion valuation funded mainly by investors. PayPal, an early pioneer of online payments and digital wallets, has faced tougher competition from newer players like Stripe, and its stock has jumped on takeover chatter but remains down about 40% over the past year. Both companies have been leaning into crypto via stablecoins. Stripe declined to comment on the report.

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  And finally, Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on an investigative panel within the Senate Homeland Security Committee, opened an inquiry into Binance and sent a letter to CEO Richard Ting demanding records related to the use of Binance by individuals in Iran, internal documents about disciplining or firing compliance staff, and other materials after reports from the New York Times, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal alleged Binance compliance staff identified to partners as middlemen that enabled money laundering and trading involving Iranian government entities, with some people tied to the Iran-related work reportedly disciplined or pushed out, claims Binance disputes. The probe comes a little over two years after Binance pleaded guilty to failing to register as a money transmitting business and violating sanctions, agreeing to pay more than $4 billion

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  in penalties. Former CEO CZ was also charged, served four months in prison, and was later pardoned. By President Donald Trump and Blumenthal called Binance a repeat offender and also flagged concerns about Binance's ties to World Liberty Financial alleging the exchange has tried to influence the White House via lobbying in a financial partnership with W L F Y, which he described as owned by President Trump's sons and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Binance responded that it detected and reported suspicious activity as evidence its controls are working, said some reporting is wrong, and argued it has undergone a major compliance transformation in recent years. That's all for us today. Visit us at DailyCryptoReport.io and listen to us everywhere else you podcast under Daily Crypto Report.

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