Enforcement Actions

Gate News message, April 21 — Federal filings reveal that Trump and the Republican Party have accumulated a historic $1.2 billion cash stockpile for the November midterms, with cryptocurrency executives playing a major role in funding the GOP war chest. Democrats currently hold only $261 million in

New York State filed lawsuits against two major crypto exchanges, alleging violations of its administrative law and noncompliance with the regulatory framework for digital asset trading platforms. Abstract: New York State filed lawsuits against two major crypto exchanges, alleging violations of its administrative law and noncompliance with the regulatory framework for digital asset trading platforms. The action signals intensified state oversight of crypto markets.

Gate News message, April 21 — A weekend hack that drained nearly $300 million from a small crypto project and triggered a $10 billion run on the largest decentralized lending platform may slow Wall Street's growing interest in blockchain technology, according to a report from Jefferies LLC released

Gate News message, April 21 — Burwick Law has filed a federal class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against the creators of AI16Z and ELIZAOS, including Walters, alleging violations of consumer protection laws, false advertising, and unjust

Gate News message, April 21 — The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against using dYdX and six other cryptocurrency platforms, stating they are not registered or authorized to solicit investments from local users. The warning aims to protect Filipino

LayerZero attributed a $290 million exploit of KelpDAO's cross-chain rsETH configuration to North Korea's Lazarus Group on April 18, describing the attacker as a "highly-sophisticated state actor." According to LayerZero, the incident was limited to KelpDAO's rsETH setup and did not spread to other

Gate News message, April 21 — Scammers impersonating Iranian authorities have targeted shipping companies with vessels stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) payments in exchange for safe passage, according to maritime risk firm Marisks. The fraudsters

Summary: SEC Philippines warns about seven unregistered crypto platforms (dYdX, Aevo, gTrade, Pacifica, Orderly, Deriv, Ostium) under CASP; promoters may face fines up to PHP 5 million or 21 years' jail. Abstract: The Philippines’ SEC issued an investor warning identifying seven unregistered cryptocurrency trading platforms (dYdX, Aevo, gTrade, Pacifica, Orderly, Deriv, Ostium) not registered under the Crypto Asset Service Provider framework. It cautions that promoting these platforms in the Philippines may incur criminal liability, with penalties including fines up to PHP 5 million and up to 21 years’ imprisonment.

Arbitrum froze 30,766 ETH from the KelpDAO hack, worked with law enforcement, and recovered about a quarter of assets, while locking funds pending governance amid decentralization versus security debates. Abstract: This article reports that the Arbitrum Security Council froze 30,766 ETH (about $70 million) tied to the KelpDAO exploit, with nine of twelve votes, and moved funds to a secure wallet in coordination with law enforcement. The operation targeted only affected assets to minimize network disruption. The exploiter is suspected to be DPRK-associated. The breach began April 18 via a LayerZero-powered bridge, draining 116,500 rsETH (~$292 million). About a quarter of stolen assets have been recovered. The frozen funds will remain locked until governance and legal authorities decide the next steps, prompting debate over decentralization versus security.

According to a report by ZDNet Korea, South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) issued on April 15 a procurement notice for a “virtual asset tax evasion response and transaction tracking software,” with plans to complete system selection by the end of May, deploy it in June, and officially launch it in July. The new system will be able to track self-custodied (non-custodial) wallets such as MetaMask and Phantom, and will include “demixing” technology to enforce tax evasion against offenders who use mixers to conceal the flow of funds. This is the third upgrade to South Korea’s crypto tax investigation tracking system since 2024. In conjunction with new tax legislation that, starting in 2026, will formally bring crypto assets under taxation under the “Other Income” category of the comprehensive income tax, enforcement tools are being upgraded at the same time to improve collection efficiency. Procurement scope: Chainalysis and TRM

Gate News message, April 21 — South Korea's National Tax Service announced on April 15 that it plans to deploy crypto asset tracking software from firms including Chainalysis and TRM Labs to monitor cryptocurrency transactions in real time, trace hidden assets of suspected tax evaders, and combat mo

Arbitrum’s Security Committee announced on April 21 that it has taken emergency action to freeze 30,766 ETH on the Arbitrum One chain related to the KelpDAO hacker attack. With assistance from law enforcement agencies, the Security Committee confirmed the attacker’s identity and devised a technical plan to transfer the funds to an interim freeze wallet without affecting any other chain state or Arbitrum users.

KelpDAO’s vulnerability caused Aave’s total value locked (TVL) to fall from $26.4 billion on April 18, 2026, to about $17 billion on April 21, and after DefiLlama founder 0xngmi officially responded on the X platform to accusations that its Aave TVL figures were inflated by circular liquidity, he said that the amount of borrowed tokens has been deducted from the TVL.

A Chinese national was arrested in Argentina for carrying a forged Paraguayan passport. He is wanted for orchestrating a $49.4 million cryptocurrency fraud in Nigeria, and extradition proceedings are being initiated.

Russia's State Duma has introduced a draft bill to criminalize unlicensed crypto services, imposing fines and prison terms. The Supreme Court deems the proposal premature due to pending digital currency laws. The bill aims to expand regulatory oversight by the central bank over the crypto sector.

Israeli Security Forces Charged in Crypto Theft Case Israeli authorities have charged seven military and police officers with running a multimillion-dollar theft and bribery ring involving cryptocurrency, marking the second crypto-related criminal case to hit the country's defence establishment in

LayerZero reported that the Kelp DAO exploit, attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group, led to a loss of $292 million in rsETH tokens due to vulnerabilities in its decentralized verifier network. Additionally, eth.limo faced a domain hijacking from a social engineering attack, but DNSSEC mitigated severe damage.

LayerZero issued a statement regarding the $292 million hack suffered by Kelp DAO, accusing Kelp’s self-selected 1-of-1 DVN configuration of making the incident possible. The attacker was the North Korean Lazarus Group. LayerZero emphasized that this incident stems from configuration choices and that it will no longer support this kind of vulnerable setup. In addition, responsibility is still disputed, and no compensation plan has been provided.

Charles Schwab is considering introducing prediction markets for financial events amid growing Wall Street interest, while maintaining a focus on wealth management. Regulatory scrutiny is increasing, especially regarding sports and entertainment wagers, highlighted by recent legislation and concerns over insider trading and market manipulation.

Senator Elizabeth Warren accused SEC Chair Paul Atkins of misleading Congress over a decline in enforcement actions, which hit a decade low in fiscal 2025. Warren sought clarification on the regulatory shift, while Atkins defended the changes as a strategic realignment of priorities.