Circle Blacklists Lazarus Group-Linked Wallets
Circle, a prominent stablecoin issuer, has added its name to the list of companies blacklisting wallets associated with North Korea’s Lazarus Group. This move follows similar actions taken by other major stablecoin issuers like Tether, Paxos, and Techteryx. More than $1.5 million in Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) were blacklisted on September 14 from specific wallet addresses.
Blockchain analyst ZachXBT pointed out that Circle’s actions came months after its competitors had already taken similar steps in late April. Across the blacklisted addresses, nearly $5 million in various stablecoins have been frozen, including:
- $1.5 million in Tether’s USDT
- $1.8 million in Paxos-issued Binance USD (BUSD)
- $580,000 in Techteryx’s TrueUSD (TUSD)
ZachXBT’s investigation revealed that between 2020 and 2023, the Lazarus Group laundered over $200 million from 25 cryptocurrency hacks. Despite the significant action taken by stablecoin issuers, the $5 million blacklisted represents a small fraction of the stablecoin market, which is valued at $172.4 billion.
Ethereum Foundation Researcher Steps Down
Danny Ryan, a longstanding researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, has announced his departure after seven years of service. In a GitHub post dated September 13, Ryan cited personal reasons and a desire to explore new opportunities as the basis for his decision. He emphasized that his relationship with Ethereum isn’t necessarily over and expressed his intention to take an indefinite break to focus on family and personal projects.
Ryan played a critical role in Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in September 2022. While he is not actively seeking new full-time opportunities, he is open to part-time engagements as 2025 approaches.
Trump DeFi Platform Welcomes Scroll Co-Founder
World Liberty Finance (WLF), a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform linked to presidential candidate Donald Trump, has appointed Sandy Peng, co-founder of the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Scroll, as its latest adviser. Peng brings over a decade of experience in the blockchain industry, having previously worked with Fission Capital and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
WLF’s advisory board also includes:
- Web3 Antivirus founder Alexei Dulub
- Crypto lawyer Rafael Yakobi
- Polychain Capital’s cryptography researcher Luke Pearson
The platform, primarily operated by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is set to launch on September 16. The project aims to integrate US dollar-pegged stablecoins into DeFi and offers features like digital wallets, credit accounts, and token-based investments.
Telegram’s Catizen Players Displeased with Airdrop
Telegram users eagerly awaiting the Catizen token (CATI) airdrop on September 20 have voiced their dissatisfaction with recent changes to the tokenomics announcement. Only 15% of CATI tokens will be distributed in the first season, a figure much lower than expected. An additional 19% will be released through quarterly airdrop campaigns over three years.
Players expressed their frustration on social media, with some labeling the distribution as unfair. The developers, Pluto Studio, explained that the changes were necessary to prevent bots from claiming a disproportionate share of the tokens, thus ensuring fairness for genuine players.
Other News
Former President Donald Trump is reportedly safe following reports of gunshots near his vicinity while playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The area was immediately locked down following the incident.
Chinese lawmakers are revising their anti-money laundering laws to better monitor risks associated with emerging financial technologies, including cryptocurrencies. The Legislative Affairs Commission emphasized the need for improved detection methods to combat money laundering effectively.
