Top Stories of The Week
‘Hundreds’ of EVM wallets drained in mysterious attack: ZachXBT
An attacker has drained “hundreds” of crypto wallets on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains, siphoning small sums from each victim in what onchain investigator ZachXBT described as a broad but low-value exploit.
The losses appear limited on a per-wallet basis, with each victim losing less than $2,000, according to ZachXBT. The activity has affected wallets on several EVM-compatible networks, indicating a widespread incident rather than it being isolated to a single blockchain.
A fraudulent email disguised as legitimate communication from Web3 wallet MetaMask could have been the vehicle for the attack, said cybersecurity researcher Vladimir S., who cited a clue left by another pseudonymous X user.
“This looks like automated, wide-net exploitation,” cybersecurity provider Hackless said, warning users to revoke smart contract approvals and continue monitoring their wallets.
Coinbase bets on stablecoins, Base and ‘everything exchange’ for 2026
Coinbase intends to prioritize stablecoins, its Ethereum layer-2 Base and building out its exchange products past cryptocurrencies throughout 2026, according to CEO Brian Armstrong.
In a New Year’s social media post, Armstrong reaffirmed Coinbase’s “everything exchange” strategy, which includes products like prediction markets, equities and commodities.
At its year-end conference in December, Coinbase launched stock trading and prediction markets as part of its push. The company has also rebranded its wallet app as an “everything app,” adding social networking and onchain features.
Coinbase isn’t alone in broadening its product suite. Rival crypto exchanges are increasingly bundling services in a bid to become “super apps.”
No, whales are not accumulating massive amounts of Bitcoin: CryptoQuant
Speculation that Bitcoin whales are engaged in a massive reaccumulation phase has been significantly overstated, suggesting the digital asset market structure has not materially changed, according to onchain data from CryptoQuant.
The popular narrative that large holders are aggressively buying Bitcoin is misleading, said Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant. Much of the publicly shared “whale accumulation” data is distorted by exchange-related activity rather than genuine investor behavior.
Cryptocurrency exchanges routinely consolidate funds from many smaller wallets into fewer large ones for operational and regulatory reasons. This process artificially increases the number of wallets holding very large balances, leading onchain trackers to misclassify the activity as whale accumulation.
BitMine chairman proposes 1,000x increase in company’s authorized shares, to 50B
Tom Lee, chairman of publicly listed Ether treasury company BitMine, urged shareholders to back a proposal to dramatically increase the company’s authorized share count to 50 billion from 50 million, citing the potential need for future stock splits as Ether’s price drives the company’s valuation.
Lee said BitMine’s share price closely tracks the price of Ether, and that he modeled potential future valuations using the ETH/Bitcoin ratio. According to Lee, ETH could reach $250,000 if Bitcoin climbs to $1 million, a scenario that would push BitMine’s share price to levels he said would be inaccessible for most retail investors.
BitMine shifted from operating as a Bitcoin mining and holding company to an ETH treasury strategy in 2025, but it still retains some of its Bitcoin operations.
SEC’s Crenshaw set to depart, leaving US financial watchdog all Republican
Caroline Crenshaw, the sole Democratic member leading the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as commissioner, will be departing the agency this week after serving more than five years.
Crenshaw is expected to depart the SEC by Saturday, marking 18 months after her term ended in June 2024. Commissioners are permitted to continue work at the agency, provided the Senate has not confirmed a replacement.
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Crenshaw, who was sworn into office in August 2020, has often been critical of the agency’s approach to digital assets. She spoke out against the SEC settling its enforcement case with Ripple Labs and warned that weakening regulations on digital assets could lead to “significant market contagion.”
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cointelegraph.com