A new variation on crypto crime has occurred as three victims were robbed in a mall parking lot in Bangkok. They were preparing to exchange $100,000 in crypto assets when five assailants attacked them.
The criminals may have been involved in setting up the crypto deal, as happened in a similar incident in Phuket last November. Thai authorities are searching for the perpetrators.
Bangkok Crypto Deal Goes South
Crypto crimes are at an epidemic level right now, and that can manifest in some extremely bizarre ways. This recent story from Bangkok is a prime example, as crypto was never directly involved.
Instead, the victims pooled together 3.4 million baht (worth about $100,000) to do an in-person transaction, which evidently went south:
Police hunt 5 robbers after ฿3.4m crypto deal turns violent in Bangkok mall car park
In a shocking incident at Central Plaza Ladprao, thieves stole ฿3.4m during a planned cryptocurrency transaction, escaping in a Honda car. pic.twitter.com/PyLNKlnsk3
Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of other relevant details. Local authorities are looking for the attackers and have plenty of information about the getaway car. However, it may have been stolen before the theft took place.
Further, because this Bangkok theft didn’t involve crypto, there’s no way to monitor blockchain data. The perpetrators only need to launder a bag of cash, which might be incredibly easy.
Thailand has been home to another recent crypto theft, although this one took place far away from Bangkok. In November 2024, a Ukrainian national was robbed in Phuket, an island near the southernmost tip of the country.
Four men kidnapped and extorted him, demanding 250,000 in USDT. After they left, the victim escaped and informed the police.
One of these four robbers was a past associate of the victim, having previously bought USDT from him on several occasions. Hopefully, this 2024 incident may also provide a critical link to today’s Bangkok crypto theft.
Specifically, it seems very possible that the alleged crypto vendors and the robbers are in league or even the exact same people.
Crypto ATMs are not widespread in Thailand, so these Bangkok men needed some other intermediary to exchange cash for tokens.
Whoever offered to make the trade would, therefore, have more than enough information to stage a robbery. This theory seems more likely than the assailants randomly encountering men carrying a sack full of cash in public.
More Recent Crypto Crime Stories
BeInCrypto has been hard at work covering this crypto crime wave, including violent and nonviolent incidents:
North Korean hackers attack both sides of the hiring process, targeting crypto industry job seekers and posing as fake candidates. Pepe creator Matt Furie lost over $300,000 after hiring a hacker for an IT role, and Favrr lost $680,000 after appointing a North Korean infiltrator as its CTO.
Shockingly, low-quality crimes are seeing a lot of success in the US thanks to social engineering. Multiple criminals defrauded users out of millions, yet proved incredibly easy for law enforcement to track. One thief stole $4 million and lost almost all of it to a gambling addiction.
Despite all these crimes, authorities are on the hunt, as cooperation from 15 separate nations brought down an international fraud ring. The group stole $540 million from victims around the globe.
A new report from Solidus Labs has revealed that 98.6% of tokens issued on Pump.fun, a popular token creation platform on Solana, are considered scams or involved in fraudulent trading.
Additionally, similar issues have been identified on Raydium, a major decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana.
Report Reveals Massive Scam Rate on Pump.fun
Solidus Labs, a company specializing in blockchain risk monitoring, released a detailed report on the state of certain platforms on the Solana blockchain. According to the report, Pump.fun has issued over 7 million tokens since its launch in January 2024.
However, only 97,000 of these tokens have maintained a liquidity of at least $1,000, which is less than 1.4% of the total tokens.
Pump & Dump tokens on Pump.fun. Source: Solidus Labs
More alarmingly, 98.6% of tokens issued on the platform have been identified as scams or show signs of fraudulent trading. One of the largest scams uncovered by Solidus Labs involved MToken, resulting in losses of up to $1.9 million.
“good (in different ways): railgun, farcaster, polymarket, signal. bad (in different ways): pump.fun, Terra/Luna, FTX. The differences in what the app does stem from differences in beliefs in developers’ heads about what they are here to accomplish,” shared Buterin
93% of Liquidity Pools on Raydium Show Signs of “Soft Rug Pull”
About 25% of these scams involved amounts less than $732. However, the median rug pull involved about $2,832, while the largest detected rug pull totaled $1.9 million.
Though the amounts look relatively small compared to multi-million-dollar scams, the sheer number of affected pools shows the prevalence of this issue.
A common thread between the two platforms is that both are built on the Solana blockchain. Solana is known for its high transaction speeds, processing thousands of transactions per second, and low costs, averaging just $0.00025 per transaction. Because of its technical advantages, Solana has become a prime target for criminals and scammers.
Despite these challenges, Solana remains a promising blockchain with many legitimate and interesting projects. Platforms like Raydium are vital in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, with monthly trading volumes reaching billions of dollars.
Speculation about Nvidia adding Bitcoin to its treasury reserves has surfaced recently. These unconfirmed reports lead to questions about the potential for increased institutional adoption of Bitcoin and the possible performance of such a move for Nvidia, whose stock value has fallen considerably this year.
BeInCrypto interviewed representatives from Banxe, FINEQIA, CoinShares, Bitunix, and Acre BTC to discuss Bitcoin’s potential benefits for Nvidia and explore whether such an investment would ultimately benefit the company in the long run.
Rumors of Nvidia’s Potential Bitcoin Investment
Over the past few weeks, several reports have surfaced across social media suggesting that Nvidia, a pioneer in GPU-accelerated computing, is considering adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet.
These reports remain purely speculative at the time of press, given that Nvidia has not made any official statements on the topic. When BeInCrypto reached out for clarification, an Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment.
Even as rumors, these reports highlight the significant impact of such a decision on Bitcoin’s public perception. Given Nvidia’s current economic circumstances, marked by a substantial drop in stock value, an announcement of this nature would not be completely unexpected.
As such, Nvidia’s stock price has taken a hit. According to recent reports, Nvidia stock has fallen 35% since its latest price peak in January.
Nvidia’s stock reacted especially poorly to the news that China’s Huawei Technologies is testing a new AI chip potentially more powerful than Nvidia’s H100.
Given these circumstances, Nvidia can mitigate current economic challenges by diversifying its treasury assets.
Should Nvidia Consider Adding Bitcoin to Its Balance Sheet?
Such a move would significantly alter how other institutional investors view Bitcoin, potentially encouraging more companies to adopt a similar strategy. The crypto community would likely celebrate the news, believing it would solidify Bitcoin’s legitimacy as an asset class.
However, the extent to which Nvidia requires Bitcoin for stability remains controversial.
Risks of Adding Bitcoin to Nvidia’s Treasury
As it is, Nvidia already has other strategies that help the company hedge against volatility and inflation. Adding Bitcoin into the mix may seem excessive.
This becomes especially true when considering just how volatile Bitcoin itself can be. Though the asset can generate significant gains during bullish periods, the losses it can cause are equally severe.
As such, Bitcoin might not be the natural choice to defend Nvidia from its current stock declines. An investment of this kind would need to reflect a long-term strategy rather than an impulse decision.
Would BTC Even Make a Difference on Nvidia’s Share Price?
Bitcoin has demonstrated high returns over the long term, though with considerable volatility. For companies able to withstand the associated risks, including large price fluctuations, it offers the potential for significant future profits.
With its substantial financial resources, Nvidia could absorb Bitcoin’s volatility without a major impact on its balance sheet. In this sense, the company has little to lose, but also little to gain.
Ultimately, Nvidia’s decision to invest in Bitcoin hinges on timing and urgency, particularly given recent developments that have alleviated some pressures on the company.
Easing Export Restrictions: A Boost for Nvidia
Last week, the Trump administration announced its plans to roll back certain Biden-era export restrictions on advanced semiconductor chips.
Biden’s ‘AI Diffusion Rule’ established these restrictions to enhance US technological leadership by preventing advanced chips from being diverted to countries of concern, especially China. Given that China was Nvidia’s main buyer, the rule significantly hampered its sales.
A rollback would be highly advantageous for Nvidia’s sales, especially amid this new wave of chipmakers.
Similarly, the recent US-China tariff pause led to Nvidia’s stock price rise. Despite its temporary nature, the news is a positive sign for the company, promising reduced uncertainty and potential gains in sales and supply chain stability.
Considering these developments, adding Bitcoin to Nvidia’s balance sheet may no longer be urgent. If Nvidia were to make such a decision out of haste, it might also drive away traditional investors and long-time buyers.
Many areas of traditional finance remain highly skeptical of Bitcoin due to its short history and highly volatile nature. If Nvidia adds Bitcoin as a treasury asset, traditional investors might view it as a poor decision, potentially alienating long-time clients.
Cardano’s price has posted a 3% uptick in the last 24 hours, trading higher as the broader crypto market rebounds from recent lows.
The total crypto market capitalization has climbed over 2% today, with major altcoins like ADA gaining momentum. With bullish sentiment gradually coming back across the markets, ADA is poised to maintain its rally in the short term.
Cardano Breaks Out of Downtrend
ADA’s 3% rebound over the past day has pushed its price above the descending channel that kept its price in a downtrend between June 11 and 15.
This pattern emerges when an asset’s price forms lower highs and lower lows within two parallel downward-sloping trendlines, signaling a prevailing bearish trend. When an asset’s price breaks above the channel’s upper boundary, it indicates a potential trend reversal and the start of bullish momentum.
Readings from ADA’s Balance of Power (BoP) confirm the resurgence in bullish momentum. As of this writing, this indicator is positive at 0.33.
The BoP indicator measures the strength of buyers versus sellers in the market, helping to identify momentum shifts. When its value is positive, buyers are in control of the market and are driving newer price gains.
Moreover, this bullish sentiment persists among ADA futures traders, reflected by the coin’s positive funding rate. At press time, this is at 0.0081%, per Coinglass data.
The funding rate is a periodic payment between traders in perpetual futures markets to keep contract prices aligned with the spot price. A positive funding rate means long positions are paying shorts, indicating that bullish sentiment dominates and most ADA traders expect prices to rise.
Cardano Faces Key Test at $0.66
While ADA’s path to $1 remains uncertain, strengthening bullish momentum could see the coin break above resistance at $0.66 and target $0.73 in the mid-term.
If buy-side pressure continues to build at that level, the rally may extend toward $0.76.
However, a bearish shift in sentiment among Cardano buyers could push the price back down to $0.62, a level still back within the bounds of the previous descending channel.
