According to the Financial Times, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and other tech billionaires plan to establish a bank called Erebor, focusing on serving startups in crypto, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and defense technology. Erebor has applied for a national bank charter from the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency. The bank aims to fill the market gap left by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). SVB had previously served crypto companies including BlockFi, Circle, and Avalanche, as well as other venture-backed startups, but went bankrupt in 2023 due to financial investment mistakes. Erebor is led by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of defense technology company Anduril, and supported by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Thiel's Founder Fund. The two co-CEOs are Owen Rapaport, co-founder of software company Argus, and Jacob Hirshman, former Circle advisor. Erebor plans to include stablecoins in its balance sheet, but has not yet specified the exact coins.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the specific terminology as requested.]According to BleepingComputer, the security company Koi discovered over 40 fake crypto wallet extensions in the Firefox browser's official plugin store, impersonating mainstream wallets like MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet. These malicious plugins steal input content over 30 characters (mainly seed phrases) by inserting event listener code and transmit the data to the attacker's server. The investigation shows that this phishing campaign has been ongoing since April 2025, potentially orchestrated by a Russian-speaking hacker group. The malicious extensions not only misuse legitimate brand logos but also boost credibility through numerous fake five-star reviews. Although some users have exposed the scam through one-star ratings, most fake plugins still have significantly abnormal download numbers. While Firefox has an automated risk detection system, the reported malicious plugins remain unremoved at the time of writing. Researchers remind users to verify developer information and download authenticity when installing wallet extensions.
US Treasury Secretary: Federal Reserve May Cut Rates in September or "Earlier"
(The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach)Crypto detective ZachXBT claimed on X platform that his investigation found over $16.58 million in payments flowing to North Korean IT personnel employed by various projects and companies since January 1, 2025, averaging $2.76 million per month. Calculating compensation at $3,000-$8,000 per person per month, this corresponds to at least 345 to 920 infiltrated positions. In one of the six clusters he monitored, he successfully tracked eight North Korean IT workers employed in more than 12 projects, with payment addresses flowing to two aggregation addresses. Using open-source intelligence, he discovered that Sandy Nguyen (@bullishgopher) in the cluster was photographed standing next to the North Korean flag during activities in Russia. Despite numerous invasion indicators and research materials being public, some still consider this a conspiracy theory. After communicating with related teams, he also found other suspicious circumstances in the cluster, such as refusing in-person meetings while claiming to be in the same city, mutual job recommendations, abnormal IP addresses, username changes, account deletions, payments from the same address, and failing KYC checks.
According to Zhitong Finance, listed company Kingkey Financial International (01468) announced that on June 30, 2025 (after trading hours), the company entered into a subscription agreement with Amber International Holding Limited. Under the agreement, the issuer agrees to issue, and the company agrees to subscribe for subscription shares at a cost of approximately $12 million. The subscription price is $2.09 per subscription share. The subscription shares are 5,741,600 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.001 each. The announcement stated that the subscription is a strategic financial investment that aligns with the group's recent plans, including previously establishing an investment committee to oversee digital asset opportunities. The investment is expected to diversify the company's portfolio and enter the institutional crypto services field, consistent with previous voluntary announcements exploring digital assets.
[The rest of the text follows the same translation approach]QCP Capital, a Singapore-based crypto investment institution, stated that Bitcoin demonstrated resilience in quarterly-end capital flows, with listed companies continuously increasing spot holdings, and enterprises purchasing BTC for three consecutive quarters exceeding ETF volumes. The SEC has been active, approving staking Ethereum and Solana ETFs, with Grayscale transforming a large fund into an ETF and proposing to establish a universal standard to simplify and accelerate token ETF approval processes. Enterprise crypto asset allocation is accelerating, with Bitmine privately raising $20 million to increase Ethereum holdings, and DeFi Development raising $100 million to acquire Solana and repurchase stocks. In infrastructure, Circle applied for a US license, Robinhood launched new business in Europe, and Trump's crypto mining project raised $220 million. Market structure indicates continued improvement in crypto derivatives market liquidity. CME's Solana futures open interest reached 1.75 million contracts, a historical high, while XRP futures' first-month trading volume exceeded $500 million. BTC market dominance remains at a multi-year high of 65%-66%. Retail investors, early participants, and short-term holders seem to be in a summer consolidation period, while institutions are quietly increasing holdings. Market focus has shifted to Q3 and Q4, with positioning data suggesting potential volatility mechanism shifts. The macro environment continues to favor risk assets, with Trump confirming the Senate's passage of the "One Big America" bill, criticizing Powell and hinting at replacement; market pricing of rate cuts exceeds the Federal Reserve's expectations, with the Treasury Secretary also signaling easing. The US stock market continues to rise due to IPO revival and easing risk expectations, with risk appetite warming up and spreading to digital assets, though Altcoin market sentiment remains lagging.
Ondo Finance to Launch On-Chain US Stock Trading Platform Ondo Global Markets This Summer
According to the official announcement, Ondo Finance will launch the on-chain US stock trading platform Ondo Global Markets this summer, bringing over 100 US stocks on-chain and planning to expand to thousands of stocks by year-end.
