ZachXBT announced today that he and several collaborators froze some of the Bitcoin stolen in a recent $330 million theft. He named two potential suspects, but the investigation is still ongoing.
Several strange details exist in this case. For example, the target was an elderly whale active on multiple exchanges who acquired their assets through “interesting” methods. ZachXBT has not elaborated on this topic further.
As of today, ZachXBT and other volunteer investigators have frozen $7 million from the theft, but over $300 million remains unaccounted for.
“So far, $7 million+ has been frozen with the help of CF Investigators, tanuki42_, Binance’s Security team, and myself. Two suspects in the $330 million heist include ‘Nina/Mo’ a Somalian who operates a call scam centre in Camden, UK, and an accomplice ‘W0rk’ who assisted with the site/call. They have since deleted social media accounts,” he stated.
Apparently, the target was an elderly individual in the United States. ZachXBT claimed that the theft used social engineering tactics, thus making many security measures worthless.
After the crime, the culprits used Monero to quickly launder stolen funds. This created enough trade volume that it temporarily moved the asset’s price.
Unfortunately, there are still many unanswered questions related to this attack. ZachXBT didn’t release many details about the victim but noted that they were a longtime holder, active on multiple exchanges before the theft.
He further claimed that the $330 million came from “interesting” sources but that he might never provide additional details.
ZachXBT didn’t describe the theft investigators’ distinct roles in the operation, but Binance’s direct participation seems noteworthy. He noted that the victim’s information was likely obtained from private data leaks.
Hopefully, more details about the incident will unfold in the coming days, potentially preventing future incidents. For the crypto industry, an elderly whale losing over $300 million to one theft is an unusual tragedy indeed.
Ethereum, the world’s leading blockchain platform, will deploy the Pectra upgrade on its mainnet, scheduled for rollout on May 7, 2025.
The Pectra upgrade enhances the network’s performance and scalability and introduces groundbreaking features, particularly with EIP-7702, making Ethereum more user-friendly and secure.
Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Timeline Confirmed
Tim Beiko, a key figure in Ethereum’s development team, announced on X that the Pectra upgrade will officially launch on the mainnet on May 7, 2025, at epoch 364032. Initially planned for April 30, the upgrade was delayed due to technical issues on the testnet.
This cautious approach shows Ethereum’s commitment to stability and security, ensuring seamless network operation post-upgrade. Coinbase has also begun preparations to support the upgrade, ensuring necessary updates are implemented promptly after Pectra’s launch.
Pectra is Ethereum’s most significant upgrade, incorporating 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). It builds on major upgrades like Dencun (March 2024), focusing on improving Layer 2 (L2) scalability, optimizing validator experiences, and enhancing user-friendliness.
These changes solidify Ethereum’s leadership while laying the groundwork for decentralized applications (dApps) to thrive.
Tim Beiko: Key Highlights of the Pectra Upgrade
Tim Beiko tweeted an overview of the upcoming Pectra update, with some notable highlights. One of Pectra’s standout features is EIP-7702, which extends standard Ethereum accounts (EOAs) with smart contract functionality.
“EIP-7702 enables use cases like transaction batching, gas sponsorship, or social recovery, all without migrating your assets” Tim tweeted.
Pectra also introduces several improvements for validators. Validators can increase their effective balance up to 2048 ETH, allowing them to accrue staking rewards directly without creating additional validators. Large validators can consolidate balances, reducing bandwidth strain on the P2P network.
“It also removes the pre-merge PoW follow distance, shortening the delay to process validator deposits, and introduces execution-layer triggerable withdrawals, which enable more trustless staking constructions.” Tim shared.
The Pectra upgrade will double the average number of blobs per block, from 3 to 6. This increase will enable L2 solutions to scale faster, meeting growing market demands. It’s a critical step in Ethereum’s scalability roadmap, especially as L2 platforms like Arbitrum and Optimism continue to grow.
“Raising this limit was in part possible due to another EIP (7623), which bounds the worst-case block sizes on the network!’ Tim tweeted.
Significance for the Ethereum Ecosystem
Pectra is a strategic leap forward for Ethereum to maintain its dominance in the blockchain space. By increasing blob capacity and improving validator efficiency, Ethereum can handle more transactions per second, fostering dApp growth and attracting new users.
These changes will better position Ethereum to meet future demands while providing an infrastructure for developers.
The Pectra upgrade has garnered positive feedback from the Ethereum community. In Tim Beiko’s announcement, some X users expressed excitement. However, one user noted the need for better public education, stating, “Too bad 99% of people have no idea what that means.”
In an electrifying presentation that drew over three million viewers, CEO Elon Musk revealed Tesla’s groundbreaking self-driving vehicles, including the…
For years, crypto in Africa was synonymous with Bitcoin (BTC). Today, that narrative has flipped, with companies like Yellow Card, a crypto exchange operating in Africa, clearly reflecting this shift.
In an exclusive with BeInCrypto, Yellow Card co-founder and CEO Chris Maurice reveals how it is building a pan-African stablecoin network to leapfrog traditional finance (TradFi). This is amid growing regulatory clarity, collapsing fiat systems, and a remittance revolution.
Stablecoins Are Transforming Africa’s Financial Scene
The pan-African exchange operates in over 20 markets, and Maurice says stablecoins now account for over 99% of its transactions. This makes Yellow Card a bellwether for what might be the most transformative trend in emerging markets finance.
“When we first launched Yellow Card in 2019, people were exclusively buying Bitcoin. Now, the most popular asset is Tether (USDT),” Maurice told BeInCrypto.
As it happened, necessity, not speculation, has driven this evolution. Africa leads the world in peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading volume. However, unlike global crypto hubs chasing volatile returns, Africans are choosing stablecoins out of financial survival.
Local currencies are eroding under inflationary pressure in countries like Nigeria, which ranks second globally in crypto adoption (per Chainalysis). Stablecoins offer a reliable store of value and seamless means of cross-border payments.
This is especially critical in a continent with $48 billion annual remittances and persistent banking limitations.
“Stablecoins are solving practical financial services challenges in Africa. People aren’t in love with the tech. They need faster, cheaper ways to move money to survive and thrive,” Maurice added.
Infrastructure Built for the Unbanked
Yellow Card has gone beyond trading services. Its infrastructure integrates mobile money systems (like M-Pesa in Kenya) and local fiat currencies such as the Nigerian naira and Ghanaian cedi. According to the firm’s CEO, this helps onboard users without bank accounts.
By managing compliance, currency exchange, and payments internally, the firm enables businesses to operate without battling unreliable local rails.
“Our mission is to let companies invest, hire, and grow in emerging markets without needing to stress over infrastructure. We’ve built the back office [meaning] cybersecurity, AML, [and] data protection, so they can focus on growth,” he articulated.
The Regulatory Dam Has Broken
Maurice also observed that African regulators kept crypto in limbo for years. In Yellow Card’s view, 2024 marked a tipping point.
“There is regulatory momentum in Africa that is only accelerating. The dam has broken,” he said.
South Africa now classifies crypto as a financial product. It has licensed major exchanges like Luno and VALR. Countries in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), Mauritius, Botswana, and Namibia have followed suit with licensing regimes.
Meanwhile, regulatory incubators are emerging in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Against this backdrop, Maurice says Yellow Card has actively helped draft legislation in Kenya and supports crypto frameworks in Morocco.
Fighting the Informal Market
Still, challenges remain. In countries like Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Morocco, outright bans have driven users underground into high-risk P2P networks. Yellow Card pushes for frameworks that level the playing field for compliant players.
“We face a lot of competition from companies that don’t maintain high AML standards…A level playing field is all we seek,” he said.
With $85 million in venture funding, Yellow Card is deploying capital into compliance and partnerships. With this, the company positions itself as the go-to infrastructure provider for global firms looking to tap African markets.
From Africa to Emerging Markets Everywhere
Cross-border payments are perhaps Yellow Card’s most powerful use case. The company’s co-founder says its stablecoin-powered rails are helping businesses reduce working capital needs, expand to new regions, and hire faster.
“We’ve had clients tell us we’ve enabled them to scale into new countries and reduce their costs dramatically. That’s real economic impact,” said Maurice.
The company is not stopping at Africa. Its infrastructure extends into other frontier markets, with a wave of strategic partnerships expected in 2025.
“Yellow Card has built a series of easy buttons for developed world companies to expand into complicated, high-growth markets,” he noted.
“Stablecoins are already a standard part of the financial infrastructure in Africa. CFOs and treasurers in traditional industries are now routinely using them to store and transfer value,” he added.
Africa’s crypto market is still small compared to global giants. Nevertheless, as the world shifts from speculation to utility, the continent’s fragmented financial systems may offer a glimpse into crypto’s most impactful use case: economic empowerment. For Yellow Card, the mission is clear and increasingly urgent.
“We’ve built a company for longevity and scale. Crypto adoption in Africa is stablecoin adoption,” Maurice concluded.
