We’d love your feedback.
Take a 30-second survey to help improve The Block.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
It may be Friday the 13th, but bitcoin’s (BTC) sub-$70,000 grind looks more structurally defensive than unlucky, according to analysts who pointed toward shallow demand and ETF outflows capping rallies.
In today’s newsletter, South Korean police get drained for 22 BTC, three masked men target the head of Binance France in a failed home-jacking attempt, a bitcoin trading firm CEO gets sentenced to 20 years over a $200 million Ponzi scheme, and more.
Meanwhile, CFTC Chair Michael Selig appointed several crypto heavyweights to a 35-person innovation advisory panel.
P.S. Don’t forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It’s a great read — and just like The Daily, it’s free to subscribe!
South Korean police lose seized bitcoin held in cold wallet since 2021
Seoul’s Gangnam Police confirmed that 22 BTC seized in a 2021 investigation were drained from a cold wallet, with the missing crypto now worth roughly $1.5 million.
* The authorities said the physical USB device was never stolen, but the bitcoin stored on it was siphoned off without detection. Police discovered the loss during a recent internal review, years after the assets were surrendered in November 2021.
* The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency has launched an internal probe to determine how the breach occurred and whether any insiders were involved.
* The incident surfaced amid a nationwide inspection of investigative agencies following a separate loss of 320 BTC at the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office in January.
* Local reports said Gwangju investigators accidentally triggered the earlier drain after accessing a phishing website, raising broader concerns over crypto evidence handling.
Binance France head targeted in botched home invasion as three arrested
Binance France chief David Princay was targeted in a failed home invasion in Val-de-Marne, as three masked and reportedly armed suspects searched two addresses before fleeing.
* Police tracked the suspects using mobile phones stolen from the scene and surveillance footage, arresting them later that day at Lyon Perrache station, French outlet RTL reported.
* The incident adds to a string of crypto-linked “wrench attacks” in France, where assailants use physical force in an attempt to access victims’ digital assets.
* France has recorded multiple kidnappings, ransom attempts, and home invasions tied to crypto holders and entrepreneurs over the past year, underscoring growing security risks around public-facing industry figures.
Bitcoin trading firm CEO sentenced to 20 years over $200 million Ponzi scheme
Praetorian Group International CEO Ramil Ventura Palafox was sentenced to 20 years in prison for running a $200 million bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 90,000 investors worldwide.
* Prosecutors said Palafox falsely promised daily returns of 0.5% to 3% from high-volume bitcoin trading between 2019 and 2021, instead using new investor funds to pay earlier participants.
* Investors deposited more than $201 million into PGI — including $30.3 million in cash and 8,198 BTC — and ultimately suffered at least $62.7 million in losses.
* Palafox spent millions of investor funds on luxury cars, homes, and designer goods, and agreed to pay $62.7 million in restitution as part of his guilty plea to wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Tomasz Stanczak to step down as Ethereum Foundation co-executive director
Tomasz Stanczak announced he will step down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation at the end of February, with Bastian Aue set to serve as interim co-ED alongside Hsiao-Wei Wang.
* The move comes less than a year after the foundation formalized its new executive structure amid community criticism over transparency and strategy, with Aya Miyaguchi transitioning to president at the time and Vitalik Buterin backing a renewed scaling focus.
* During his tenure, Stanczak said the foundation clarified its roadmap and doubled down on scaling, Layer 2 coordination, stablecoins, real-world assets, and institutional adoption, while building out AI and post-quantum initiatives.
* Stanczak said he plans to remain active as a hands-on builder focused on agentic systems and governance, as Miyaguchi and Buterin praised him for improving the foundation’s efficiency and external responsiveness.
‘Let’s Go Brandon’ memecoin investor sues Steve Bannon and Trump advisor Epshteyn in class action lawsuit
A proposed class action in D.C. accuses Steve Bannon and Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn of misleading investors by promoting the Let’s Go Brandon memecoin as decentralized despite alleged operator control.
* The suit claims the defendants leveraged a politically loyal audience to drive purchases of what plaintiffs argue was an unregistered, highly speculative security.
* A December 2021 promotion on Bannon’s War Room podcast allegedly sent the Ethereum-based token up 267% in a single day before promotional efforts later faded.
Looking ahead to next week
* UK CPI inflation figures are out on Wednesday alongside U.S. mortgage data and the latest U.S. FOMC meeting minutes. U.S. jobless claims numbers are out on Thursday. U.S. PCE and GDP data follow on Friday.
* Starknet, Sei, Arbitrum, ZKsync, ApeCoin, LayerZero, Aerodrome, KAITO, and Wormhole are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.
* ETHDenver kicks off on Wednesday.
Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.
