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Tether blacklist delay allowed $78M in illicit USDT transfers: Report

A lag in Tether’s wallet blacklisting process allowed over $78 million in illicit funds to be moved before enforcement actions took effect, according to a new report from blockchain compliance company AMLBot.

Tether’s address blacklisting becomes effective only after a considerable delay from when the process is initiated on Ethereum and Tron, according the report published May 15.

“This delay originates from Tether’s multisignature contract setup on both Tron and Ethereum, transforming what should be an immediate compliance action into a window of opportunity for illicit actors,“ the report reads.

Tether’s blacklisting procedure is a multi-step process with a first transaction effectively warning of the upcoming blacklisting. First, a Tether administrator multisignature transaction submits a pending call to “addBlackList” on the USDT-TRC20 contract.

This results in a public “submission” of the target address as a blacklist candidate. This is followed by a second multisignature transaction confirming the submission,

Bitcoin mining 2025: Post-halving profitability, hashrate and energy trends

After the 2024 halving, Bitcoin mining entered its fifth epoch and block rewards were reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This forced miners to rethink their operations, optimize efficiency, cut energy costs and upgrade hardware to remain profitable. Cointelegraph Research, with insights from industry experts at Uminers, examines this transformation in its latest report. The analysis covers ASIC efficiency improvements, corporate performance, geographical expansion and new revenue models. As miners adapt, Bitcoin moves into a new era where institutional momentum and sovereign adoption could redefine its role in the global financial system.

Download the full report to uncover how miners are navigating this shift and what the future holds for Bitcoin’s mining industry.

The mining industry’s response to rising hashrate and shrinking margins

Despite the adverse financial impact of the halving, Bitcoin’s

Tron’s USDT supply to surpass Ethereum’s with new $1B mint

Stablecoin issuer Tether minted another 1 billion USDt tokens on Tron, pushing the network’s authorized USDT supply to surpass Ethereum’s.

On May 15, blockchain data showed that Tether’s treasury minted $1 billion of its dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDt (USDT), into the Tron network.

As of May 14, Tether’s stablecoin transparency page shows that Tron’s authorized USDT totals $73.7 billion, while Ethereum has $74.5 billion in authorized USDT tokens. If the newly minted tokens are added to the number of authorized USDT assets, Tron’s supply surpasses Ethereum’s.

In terms of circulating supply, Tron also has the lead with $73.6 billion USDT on the network, while Ethereum only has $71.8 billion.

Source: PeckShieldAlertTether’s USDT mints replenish the company’s token inventory

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino previously said on X that some of the company’s blockchain-based USDT mints are used

Tariff doubts push NFL, NBA to bet big on digital merch

As more and more businesses are impacted by tariff volatility, some executives, like Ridhima Kahn, vice president of business development at Dapper Labs, are viewing the assault on the cost of physical goods as another use case for digital markets powered by blockchain to shine.

“I’m seeing a lot of brands rethinking where revenue and fan engagement come from,” Kahn said during an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. “A lot of franchises, like the ones we work with — NBA, NFL, Disney — have already had years of success with digital collection, and we’re seeing a lot of brands express interest in digital collectibles as a way to engage with fan bases at a time when physical costs are riskier and unknown.”

Propelling brands to take a deeper look at digital merch is the desire to better understand fandom. Flow now has tradable highlights like a “LeBron Dunk” or a “Steph Curry 3-Pointer”

Bitcoin Season 2: Why the next wave of Bitcoin innovation is all about utility

Bitcoin’s (BTC) next evolution isn’t just about price. It’s about potential.

On this week’s episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, hosts Nathan Jeffay and Gareth Jenkinson sit down with Isabel Foxen Duke, general partner at Unbroken Chain and longtime Bitcoin advocate, to unpack what she calls “Bitcoin Season 2.”

Bitcoin beyond money

“Bitcoin Season 2 is really about seeing what we can do with Bitcoin outside of just being money,” said Duke.

“What are the broad range of financial use cases for [Bitcoin] other than just being money by itself?”

New developments like ordinals, runes, and decentralized financial (DeFi) tools are pushing Bitcoin beyond its traditional identity as a digital store of value.

One key innovation under discussion is trustless lending — allowing users to borrow against their Bitcoin without involving third-party intermediaries. “We don’t have the ability to lend against our Bitcoin in a trustless way without third-party

Bahrain-based AlAbraaj Restaurants adopts Bitcoin treasury strategy

Bahrain-based publicly listed catering company with a $24.22 million market cap has adopted a Bitcoin treasury strategy in partnership with investment firm 10X Capital.

According to a May 15 announcement, AlAbraaj Restaurants Group partnered with 10X Capital to adopt a Bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy similar to top corporate BTC holder Strategy, previously known as MicroStrategy. The firm also aims to explore Sharia-compliant access to Bitcoin for the Islamic world.

“Our initiative to become a Bitcoin treasury company reflects our forward-looking approach and our commitment to enhancing shareholder value,” Abdullah Isa, head of AlAbraaj’s Bitcoin Treasury Committee, said.

Isa added that the company believes that “Bitcoin will play a central role in the future of finance.” He explicitly cited Strategy’s legacy as an inspiration:

“We look forward to building the ‘MicroStrategy of the Middle East’ with their support.”

Related: Strive

Bitcoin to $1M by 2028 as Hayes tells Europe to ’get your money out’

Key points:

US treasuries and foreign capital “repatriation” make a recipe for $1 million BTC, says Arthur Hayes.

Europeans face tightening capital controls, inviting a recommendation to take back control of personal funds.

Seven-figure BTC price targets are already gaining traction.

Bitcoin (BTC) will shoot to $1 million in just three years thanks to global macroeconomic shifts, Arthur Hayes forecasts.

In his latest blog post released on May 15, the former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX doubled down on his sky-high BTC price prediction.

Hayes: $1 million Bitcoin due “between now and 2028”

Bitcoin has two giant tailwinds that will help propel it to seven digits in just a few years.

For Hayes, shifting capital controls worldwide, as well as US treasury “devaluation,” mean that Bitcoin will become the go-to safety net for investors everywhere.

He summarizes:

“Foreign capital repatriation and the devaluation of the

Jim Chanos takes opposing bets on Bitcoin and Strategy

Prominent short-seller Jim Chanos, once a vocal critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, revealed a new trading play that involves shorting shares of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and buying Bitcoin.

At the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, Chanos told CNBC he’s “selling MicroStrategy stock and buying Bitcoin.” The investor described the move as buying something for $1 and selling something for $2.50, referring to what he sees as a significant price mismatch.

Chanos argued that Strategy is selling the idea of buying Bitcoin (BTC) in a corporate structure, and that other companies are following suit in hopes of receiving a similar market premium.

Chanos said this was “ridiculous.” He described his trade as “a good barometer of not only just the arbitrage itself, but I think of retail speculation.”

Selling Strategy stock to buy Bitcoin

Chanos’ recent move assumes investors overpay for Bitcoin exposure through corporate

Stablecoins seen as ideal fit for real-time collateral management

Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are gaining growing recognition in the traditional finance (TradFi) space for their ability to streamline payments and increase efficiency in existing financial systems

In finance, collateral management refers to the process of managing the underlying collateral securing other financial transactions, such as loans or derivatives, to mitigate credit risks and ensure smooth transaction execution.

Digital assets like stablecoins are the “perfect” financial instrument for real-time collateral management, according to a recent pilot by DTCC Digital Assets, which suggests that digital assets, particularly stablecoins, could modernize and simplify this critical function.

“Digital assets really are the perfect use case for collateral management, whether it be uncleared derivatives, clear derivatives, central counterparties, repo, or any other type of collateral,” said Joseph Spiro, product director at DTCC Digital Assets, during a panel at Consensus 2025.

From left: Ian Allison, CoinDesk reporter, Jelena DDjuric, CEO of Noble, Kyle Hauptman, chairman of the National Credit Union

Coinbase refuses $20M ransom after support agent data breach

Coinbase, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by a $20 million extortion attempt after cybercriminals recruited overseas support agents to leak user data, the company said.

According to a May 15 blog post, Coinbase said a group of external actors bribed and coordinated with several customer support contractors to access internal systems and steal limited user account data.

“These insiders abused their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers,” Coinbase said, adding that no passwords, private keys, funds or Coinbase Prime accounts were affected.

Less than 1% of Coinbase’s monthly transacting users’ data was affected by the attack, the company said.

Source: Coinbase

After stealing the data, the attackers attempted to extort $20 million from Coinbase in exchange for not disclosing the breach. Coinbase refused the demand.

Related: Ukraine strategic