The world is currently oscillating between moments of hope and uncertainty over drawing curtains on the ongoing geopolitical conflict. On the surface, it looks like geopolitical tensions have not affected crypto, but in reality, they have impacted the market briefly, although less. The crypto market sometimes blinks green, with Bitcoin currently trading at $68,000 at the time of reporting.
When it comes to the news industry, crypto’s information hub, several developments have happened around stablecoins, AI, and crypto regulations. Here are the top cherry-picked crypto news stories from the past week.
Google finds Coruna iPhone exploit used in crypto theft
Security researchers at Google uncovered a sophisticated iPhone exploit kit called Coruna that hackers use for crypto-phishing attacks. This toolkit mainly targets the old versions of Apple iOS and exploits vulnerabilities in the device.
The crypto wallets of the users who unknowingly enter fake crypto websites get easily attacked by Coruna, creeping into confidential information like seed phrases, wallet credentials, and other related data.
Pudgy Penguins faces trademark infringement lawsuit
The prominent NFT brand Pudgy Pengins faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the Original Penguin apparel company PEI Licensing. The lawsuit claims that the Pudgy Penguins used the firm’s branding elements that are allegedly similar to the clothing brand’s trademarks.
Notably, Pudgy Penguins continued to use the trademark despite a 2023 cease-and-desist from PEI Licensing. However, the NFT brand has not yet publicly revealed its legal response.
Ray Dalio cautions on Bitcoin over privacy and other risks
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warned against Bitcoin’s privacy limitations, quantum computing threats, potential central bank adoption risks, and small market size. All these criticisms were echoed at a time when Bitcoin was trading at $100.
Dalio further voiced that despite Bitcoin growing tremendously, the mentioned structural vulnerabilities cannot likely replace the traditional financial ecosystem. Dalio also reinstated: “There will be no privacy… all transactions will be known… and if you’re politically disfavored, you could be shut off.”
SEC ends case against Tron Founder Justin Sun
The US Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed a 2022-lawsuit it filed against billionaire and Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun. The lawsuit filed by stated that Justin Sun was involved in a potential fraud, where the founder allegedly misled investors over certain fundraising activities. The claims also went against how Tron (TRX) tokens were distributed.
Mastercard launches verifiable intent for AI payment
Payment service company Mastercard rolled out verifiable intent for AI payments, meaning a system that enables secure AI-driven payment approvals. The new feature allows AI tools and other virtual systems to initiate and verify payments on behalf of users.
According to the payment firm, the AI-enabled payment system will enhance privacy, security, and authenticity.
Doppler brings native Solana Virtual Machine for token issuance
Doppler Protocol is developing a native version of its protocol that runs on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), a smart contract environment of Solana. In detail, projects launching tokens on the Solana blockchain can use Doppler directly on Solana instead of depending on cross-chain tools.
The DeFi protocol provides market-ready features such as built-in price discovery and liquidity mechanisms
FBI arrests 22-year old over US government crypto theft
The FBI arrested John Daghita, a 22-year old individual, in connection with the $40 million in crypto theft case linked to the US Marshals Service.
The US Marshal Service is a federal agency that holds and manages captured digital assets from court-ordered forfeitures and criminal investigations. According to reports, Daghita is the son of an executive of a Virginia‑based tech firm, which was hired in 2024 to assist the US Marshals in seizing crypto funds.
Besides, the crypto industry, something that has become very common: crypto exploits. Hackers stole nearly $2.7 million worth of BRO token on Solv Protocol through a reentrancy vulnerability on smart contract. Crypto also saw stablecoin launches, notably Sui Network’s first native stablecoin, USDsui.
Another major news was about payment giant Western Union integrating Crossmint, a crypto infrastructure provider, for its USDPT stablecoin on Solana. The stablecoin is expected to launch in the first half of 2026.
What’s brewing in crypto this week?
As usual, market price is something that people always tend to look for in crypto. Apart from that, California is opening applications for crypto licenses or the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL) license on March 9. To comply with the new regulation, crypto firms in California should apply for the license by July 1, 2026.
Additionally, several token unlocks are scheduled for this week, including Stella, HistoryDAO, Linea, ArbiPad, IVPAY, and much more.
