News
Weekly Crypto News Summary (June 10 – June 16)

QUICK OVERVIEW
- ZKsync launched its new governance system and announced its airdrop
- Terraform Labs agreed to a $4.47 billion fine in its lawsuit with the SEC
- T-Mobile entered Bitcoin mining
- Polygon introduced a new governance hub and launched new blockchain development incentives
- MicroStrategy plans another $500 million bond issuance
- Solana weeded out harmful validators and launched its brand-focused platform, Bond
- Binance’s Swiss banking partner, FlowBank, is being liquidated
Financial Institutions and Crypto Brokers
Crypto.com has received the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), enabling it to expand its offerings in the country, including crypto-fiat trades and fiat wallets.
Ripple Labs has completed its acquisition of the digital asset custodian Standard Custody. The company will play a significant role in Ripple’s planned USD stablecoin launch and real asset tokenization processes. As part of the deal, Standard Custody CEO Jack McDonald has been appointed as Ripple’s Senior Vice President for Stablecoins while retaining his CEO position at Standard Custody.
Project Investments
At the Prague Bitcoin Conference, a representative from Deutsche Telekom, known as T-Mobile, announced plans to mine Bitcoin. The company has been running its own node for some time and plans to engage in digital monetary photosynthesis and Bitcoin mining in the future.
The non-profit NEAR Foundation launched Nuffle Labs, which will develop the NEAR Fast Finality Layer and other tools in the NEAR modular product suite. The independent organization received $13 million in strategic funding from Electric Capital and angel investors Sreeram Kannan from EigenLayer and Sandeep Nailwal from Polygon.
MicroStrategy, known for its Bitcoin accumulation, plans to raise another $500 million through a convertible senior notes offering, with an option to extend by an additional $75 million. The proceeds will be used to acquire more Bitcoin and for general corporate purposes. The notes, due in 2032, will be privately issued to qualified institutional buyers, subject to market conditions and other factors.
Blockchain Developments, Partnerships, Web3, and DeFi
Ethereum layer-2 network ZKsync announced it will distribute 3.675 billion ZK tokens via airdrop to its early users and applications next week. This amount represents 17.5% of the total 21 billion ZK tokens. An additional 49.1% of the token supply will be distributed within the ecosystem, with 17.2% going to investors and 16.1% to the Matter Labs team. ZKsync also launched a new community-driven governance system, ZK Nation, allowing token holders to propose and vote on network changes, manage protocol updates, and maintain security.
Uniswap Labs, the team behind Ethereum’s largest DeFi protocol, acquired the blockchain game Crypto: The Game (CTG), a Survivor-style elimination competition. CTG founders Dylan Abruscato, Tyler Cagle, and Bryan Lee will continue developing the game as Uniswap Labs employees, preparing for the next season. Uniswap Labs did not disclose the purchase price.
Polygon’s community treasury announced a long-term plan to incentivize blockchain development. They voted to unlock 1 billion POL tokens over 10 years, with an annual schedule of approximately 100 million POL for builders. POL will replace MATIC as Polygon’s native token. In the first phase, the treasury will distribute 35 million MATIC (about $22 million). Additionally, they announced that the Aragon Project, a leading developer of decentralized autonomous organizations, will implement Polygon’s end-to-end governance solution with protocol governance contracts, enabling users and builders to influence Polygon’s core tech developments.
The MultiversX distributed blockchain network introduced the Sovereign Chains solution, potentially increasing the transaction throughput of existing layer-2 chains by up to 100 times. This “blockchain-as-a-service” innovation offers customized blockchain solutions for various sectors, including healthcare, education, government services, the financial system, and supply chains.
The decentralized exchange SushiSwap introduced a new business model for its ecosystem. Sushi Labs, an autonomous administrative, technical, and operational organization, will now govern the Sushi ecosystem. Developers hope this new solution will resolve the protocol’s liquidity issues and break Sushi’s stagnation with the introduction of the Route Processor product.
The Solana Foundation, behind the Solana blockchain, recently removed over 30 validators from its delegation program due to their involvement in sandwich attacks, manipulating transaction prices for profit. These validators collectively held 1.5 million SOL, about 0.5% of the staking amount. Solana also launched Bond, a new blockchain-based customer engagement platform aimed at helping brands build long-term loyalty with their users.
Regulatory Actions and Hacker Attacks
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed the proposed final consent judgment in the Terraform Labs lawsuit, requesting Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York to approve the plan. Terraform and its co-founder Do Kwon accepted the judgment at the end of May, agreeing to pay $3.58 billion in damages and a $420 million civil penalty. Additionally, Kwon is barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company.
Blockchain tokenization platform Holograph confirmed that a hacker breached its protocol operator contract, minting 1 billion HLG tokens worth $14.4 million. The native HLG token subsequently dropped nearly 80%. Developers have since fixed the problematic code, and the company is working with crypto brokers to freeze the malicious actor’s accounts.
Swiss regulatory authorities initiated the closure of crypto-friendly FlowBank, filing for bankruptcy proceedings due to the bank’s imminent insolvency risk. FlowBank was Binance’s banking partner, serving as a custodian for some large traders who preferred not to leave their money on the platform.