Suspected North Korean hackers drained approximately $390 million from Bitget’s hot wallets in 2026’s largest single crypto hack, pushing North Korea’s total crypto theft for the year past $1 billion. Bitcoin topped $87,000 for the first time since January as spot ETFs drew $2.4 billion in weekly inflows, then fell back below $84,000 after Trump rejected Iran’s Hormuz Strait proposal. Binance invested $100 million in Circle shares in a five-year deal to expand USDC. Tether opted out of EU MiCA licensing over the 60% bank reserve requirement. Here is a clear look at the most important crypto and tech stories making headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suspected North Korean hackers drained approximately $390 million<\/a> from Bitget’s hot wallets in the largest single crypto theft of 2026, with the figure rising from an initial estimate of $351.6 million as investigators traced additional affected addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A single exchange losing $390 million to a nation-state hacking operation is not an edge case anymore. North Korea has industrialized crypto theft to the point where it now runs what amounts to a state-funded operation targeting exchange infrastructure. The hot wallet attack vector is well understood and well documented. Exchanges of Bitget’s size operating with hot wallets holding this much liquidity are making a calculated risk that keeps getting punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elliptic confirmed that North Korea-linked crypto theft crossed $1 billion<\/a> for 2026 following the Bitget attack, with the total accumulated across multiple operations throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n $1 billion stolen in less than nine months means North Korea is extracting more than $100 million per month from the crypto industry on average. That money funds weapons programs under active international sanctions. The crypto industry is not a passive victim here. Every exchange that runs inadequate hot wallet security is a direct contributor to a state that uses these funds for missile development. The $1 billion threshold is not a milestone. It is an indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Central Bank and EU member central banks urged Brussels to eliminate<\/a> MiCA’s requirement that stablecoin issuers hold 60% of their reserves in EU bank deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECB pushing to remove one of MiCA’s core stablecoin requirements is a remarkable reversal. This is the same regulatory body that helped design these rules. The 60% bank deposit requirement was meant to ensure stablecoin reserves stayed within the regulated banking system. The problem is that it makes compliance economically unworkable for large issuers and has already driven Tether out of the EU market entirely. When the regulator starts calling its own rules counterproductive, the rules were badly designed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tether confirmed it will not pursue<\/a> MiCA stablecoin licensing in the EU, citing the 60% bank reserve requirement as incompatible with how it operates its reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tether opting out of MiCA is the most significant consequence of the 60% rule. USDT is the dominant stablecoin in global crypto trading volume. The EU has now written a regulation that its largest market participant will not comply with, and even its own central banks are saying the requirement needs to go. The result is that European traders and businesses using USDT are operating in a gray zone, and the regulation has achieved the opposite of its stated goal of bringing stablecoins under a clear legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Binance invested $100 million in Circle shares<\/a> as part of a five-year strategic deal aimed at expanding USDC integration across Binance’s platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Binance putting $100 million into Circle is a direct move against Tether’s dominance. USDT has held the top stablecoin position for years partly because Binance’s trading pairs and liquidity made it the default. A five-year deal with Circle to expand USDC integration changes that calculus significantly. Every percentage point of market share that shifts from USDT to USDC is a win for Circle and a challenge to Tether’s $100 billion-plus circulation lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Binance faces a new US Department of Justice investigation<\/a> into alleged violations of Iran sanctions, adding to its existing legal history with US regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Binance under a new DOJ probe while simultaneously investing $100 million in Circle and expanding its stablecoin strategy is a reminder that the company is trying to build its future while managing its past at the same time. Iran sanctions violations are among the most serious charges US financial regulators pursue. The company already paid over $4 billion in fines and penalties in 2023. A new probe on the same category of violation suggests the previous settlement did not fully resolve the underlying compliance gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New York’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Polymarket<\/a> over allegations of unlicensed gambling operations, and Polymarket responded by filing a countersuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polymarket fighting back rather than settling is an unusual move that signals the platform believes it has a credible legal argument that prediction markets are not gambling. That distinction matters far beyond Polymarket. If courts determine that prediction markets are gambling under existing law, every similar platform faces the same exposure. If Polymarket wins, it establishes a precedent that prediction markets are a distinct category with different regulatory treatment. The countersuit turns this from a compliance dispute into a test case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SoFi launched stablecoin settlement<\/a> on Mastercard’s network, becoming the first FDIC-insured bank in the United States to go live with on-chain stablecoin settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An FDIC-insured bank settling transactions on-chain through Mastercard is not a pilot or a proof of concept. It is a production deployment at a regulated institution with real customer funds. Every other FDIC-insured bank watching SoFi go live now has a reference implementation to point to when their own boards ask whether this is feasible. The first mover creates permission for everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNorth Korea’s 2026 Crypto Theft Passed $1 Billion After the Bitget Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The ECB and EU Central Banks Urged Brussels to Scrap MiCA’s 60% Stablecoin Deposit Rule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tether Opted Out of EU MiCA Licensing Over the 60% Bank Reserve Requirement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Binance Invested $100 Million in Circle in a Five-Year Deal to Expand USDC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Binance Came Under a New US DOJ Probe Over Alleged Iran Sanctions Violations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
New York’s AG Sued Polymarket for Unlicensed Gambling and Polymarket Countersued<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SoFi Went Live with Stablecoin Settlement on Mastercard as the First FDIC-Insured US Bank to Do So<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bitcoin Topped $87,000 as Spot ETFs Drew $2.4 Billion in Weekly Inflows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n