Coinstelegram

The curated, high-impact gathering brings together top AI founders, investors, developers, and ecosystem builders across the MENA region to discuss the future of Web3 and Artificial Intelligence.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – October 8, 2026 – CryptoMondays MENA, Scale, and Minds by Animoca Brands today announced Scale: Intelligence | The AI Frontier, an exclusive event designed to unite artificial intelligence (AI) innovators, Web3 builders, venture capitalists, and industry visionaries.
Scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, 2026, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, the event will be held on the 12th Floor of the Grand Millennium in Barsha Heights, Dubai.
Presented in partnership with Ghaf Labs, Enya Labs, CryptoMondays, Nadmah, and Rox Custody, with collaboration from Salad Labs and Minds by Animoca Brands, the gathering serves as a strategic catalyst for AI expansion and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Exploring the Convergence of AI, Capital, and Decentralized Tech
“Scale: Intelligence” marks a dedicated edition of the Scale event series focusing on artificial intelligence and its synergistic role alongside Web3 and emerging technologies. Attendees will gain direct access to capital, high-level strategic panel discussions, and curated networking opportunities aimed at fostering partnerships across the local and global tech ecosystems.
Event Agenda & Details
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026Time: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM GSTLocation: 12th Floor, Grand Millennium, Barsha Heights, Dubai, UAERegistration: https://luma.com/t07y5voi (Space is strictly limited)Event Schedule: 3:00 PM: Arrivals & Curated Networking 4:00 PM: Keynote & AI Panel Discussion (Featuring industry leaders on the AI frontier) 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM: VIP Networking & Hospitality (Food and beverages provided)
Participating Event Partners
The event brings together leading global and regional partners, media networks, and technology enablers:
– Presenting & Core Partners: Ghaf Labs, CryptoMondays MENA, Nadmah, Rox Custody, Salad Labs, Minds by Animoca Brands, Boba Network, and Enya Labs. – Ecosystem & Media Partners: D2A2, CoinNewsExtra, AURA8, DSRPTD, ACCESS Blockchain Association, Asia Token Fund, Liberland, Washington Elite, Dats Awards , BitAngels, CoinTelegram, OffChain Global , Block Tides, CryptoniteUAE, CoinEasy, Proof of Collabs, Singapore Blockchain Week 2026, Coin Edition, Coin Gabbar, Venture Week, and DATS Awards.
About Scale
Scale (Dubai) is a premium event and platform designed to unite founders, investors, and pioneers at the intersection of emerging technologies, capital, and regional innovation. Focusing on high-value networking and actionable insights, Scale bridges global tech leaders with local ecosystems in the MENA region to accelerate growth, investment, and market expansion.
About CryptoMondays MENA
CryptoMondays MENA is part of the global CryptoMondays network, Worlds largest and Oldest Web3 community initiatives worldwide. Dedicated to educating, inspiring, and connecting passion-driven leaders, developers, and investors in the crypto and blockchain space, CryptoMondays MENA regularly hosts premier gatherings across key hub cities in the Middle East to foster community engagement and industry advancement.
About Minds by Animoca Brands
Minds by Animoca Brands – Minds by Animoca Brands is a persistent AI agent platform that removes complexity while preserving full control and customization for both builders and general users. It enables anyone to deploy and direct sovereign, always-on AI agents, called Minds, without having to operate local servers or manage any hardware or software.
Media Contact & Registration: To request press credentials, interview availability with speakers, or register for the event, please visit the official page at https://luma.com/t07y5voi.

A Manhattan federal jury has convicted Jonathan Spalletta, a Maryland cybersecurity consultant, for draining roughly $54.7 million from the decentralized exchange Uranium Finance in two April 2021 hacks.
The case reads like a crypto-meets-collectibles fever dream: stolen funds ran through Tornado Cash, then went into one of the most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards in existence, a first-edition Pokémon set, a Roman coin, and a scrap of fabric that traveled to the moon.
The Verdict
On Wednesday, October 7, a jury found Spalletta, 36, of Rockville, Maryland, guilty on both counts of computer fraud and money laundering after a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. Computer fraud carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and money laundering up to 20. Online, Spalletta went by “Cthulhon” and “Jspalletta.”
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said:
“Spalletta’s crimes cost real people to lose real money, over $50 million dollars, and caused an entire crypto platform to collapse.” The Southern District of New York added that its prosecutors and agency partners had ensured his “virtual world criminal conduct ended in his real-world criminal conviction.”
Hack One: A Bug and a “Bounty”
Uranium Finance was a decentralized exchange where users swapped tokens through liquidity pools. According to prosecutors, Spalletta struck on April 8, 2021, by repeating a series of transactions against Uranium’s smart contract to pull out far more rewards than he was owed, taking about $1.4 million.
He then pressed the team to let him keep roughly $386,000 as a “bug bounty” in exchange for returning the rest. Prosecutors called that bounty a sham. Two weeks later, he wrote to another person:
“I did a crypto heist of $1.5MM a couple of weeks ago… There was a bug in a smart contract, and I exploited it… Crypto is all fake internet money anyway.”
Hack Two: The $53.3 Million Strike
Just 20 days after the first attack, on April 28, 2021, he hit again. This time he exploited an error in how the contract calculated withdrawals across several liquidity pools, taking about $53.3 million. Uranium could not survive the loss and shut down for lack of funds.
“Code Is Law” Didn’t Work
Spalletta’s lawyers argued that prosecutors could not prove “whose fingers were on the keyboard,” that he did not write Uranium’s faulty code, and that Tornado Cash is simply a privacy tool. The jury rejected those arguments. Cryptopolitan reported the verdict came after roughly two hours of deliberation. After the verdict, prosecutors asked for GPS monitoring of Spalletta.
Laundering Through Tornado Cash
Prosecutors said Spalletta moved the proceeds through a chain of transactions that included Tornado Cash, the Ethereum mixing service designed to obscure where funds come from and where they go. Reporting on the trial put about $26 million of it through the mixer between April 2021 and November 2023.
The Shopping List
What turned this into a headline-grabber is where the money went. According to the Justice Department and trial evidence:
– Magic: The Gathering: a Black Lotus card for about $500,000, plus 18 sealed Alpha Booster packs for roughly $1.5 million – Pokémon: a complete first-edition base set for about $750,000 and a sealed first-edition booster box for about $257,500 – Ancient history: an Eid Mar denarius, the Roman coin commemorating Julius Caesar’s assassination, for about $601,545 – Space memorabilia: a piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ original airplane, carried to the moon by Neil Armstrong, for about $137,500
That is a lot of cardboard and fabric, and it happens to rhyme with a trend crypto readers have noticed lately: Pokémon cards have been outperforming Bitcoin in 2026, and Coinbase recently announced a Pokémon pack product.
What the Government Got Back
Investigators seized the Black Lotus, the Wright brothers fabric and some of the coins from Spalletta’s home under a court-authorized search warrant. In February 2025, authorities also seized cryptocurrency from the Uranium hacks worth about $31 million at the time. Prosecutors have asked anyone who believes they were a victim of the Uranium hacks to contact Homeland Security Investigations.
Why Crypto Users Should Care
This case lands in a year when DeFi security has been brutal, with hundreds of millions lost to exploits across exchanges and protocols. It is a reminder of three things:
1. Exploits are prosecutable. The “the code allowed it” argument failed in front of a jury, even though the contract’s logic really was flawed.
2. A “bug bounty” is not a free pass. Returning part of the loot after taking it did not shield him. 3. Mixers don’t erase the trail. The money moved through Tornado Cash, yet investigators still traced it to assets sitting in his home and to $31 million in seized crypto.
For Uranium’s users and team, the damage was permanent: the exchange never recovered.
What Comes Next
Spalletta’s sentencing date has not been reported in the coverage I found. With convictions on both counts, he faces a potential total of 30 years in prison, though actual sentences are typically lower. For now, the case stands as a cautionary tale in the “what happens after the hack” chapter of DeFi: the code was exploited in minutes, but the consequences took more than five years to arrive.

A Manhattan federal jury has convicted Jonathan Spalletta, a Maryland cybersecurity consultant, for draining roughly $54.7 million from the decentralized exchange Uranium Finance in two April 2021 hacks.
The case reads like a crypto-meets-collectibles fever dream: stolen funds ran through Tornado Cash, then went into one of the most expensive Magic: The Gathering cards in existence, a first-edition Pokémon set, a Roman coin, and a scrap of fabric that traveled to the moon.
The Verdict
On Wednesday, October 7, a jury found Spalletta, 36, of Rockville, Maryland, guilty on both counts of computer fraud and money laundering after a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. Computer fraud carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and money laundering up to 20. Online, Spalletta went by “Cthulhon” and “Jspalletta.”
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said:
“Spalletta’s crimes cost real people to lose real money, over $50 million dollars, and caused an entire crypto platform to collapse.” The Southern District of New York added that its prosecutors and agency partners had ensured his “virtual world criminal conduct ended in his real-world criminal conviction.”
Hack One: A Bug and a “Bounty”
Uranium Finance was a decentralized exchange where users swapped tokens through liquidity pools. According to prosecutors, Spalletta struck on April 8, 2021, by repeating a series of transactions against Uranium’s smart contract to pull out far more rewards than he was owed, taking about $1.4 million.
He then pressed the team to let him keep roughly $386,000 as a “bug bounty” in exchange for returning the rest. Prosecutors called that bounty a sham. Two weeks later, he wrote to another person:
“I did a crypto heist of $1.5MM a couple of weeks ago… There was a bug in a smart contract, and I exploited it… Crypto is all fake internet money anyway.”
Hack Two: The $53.3 Million Strike
Just 20 days after the first attack, on April 28, 2021, he hit again. This time he exploited an error in how the contract calculated withdrawals across several liquidity pools, taking about $53.3 million. Uranium could not survive the loss and shut down for lack of funds.
“Code Is Law” Didn’t Work
Spalletta’s lawyers argued that prosecutors could not prove “whose fingers were on the keyboard,” that he did not write Uranium’s faulty code, and that Tornado Cash is simply a privacy tool. The jury rejected those arguments. Cryptopolitan reported the verdict came after roughly two hours of deliberation. After the verdict, prosecutors asked for GPS monitoring of Spalletta.
Laundering Through Tornado Cash
Prosecutors said Spalletta moved the proceeds through a chain of transactions that included Tornado Cash, the Ethereum mixing service designed to obscure where funds come from and where they go. Reporting on the trial put about $26 million of it through the mixer between April 2021 and November 2023.
The Shopping List
What turned this into a headline-grabber is where the money went. According to the Justice Department and trial evidence:
– Magic: The Gathering: a Black Lotus card for about $500,000, plus 18 sealed Alpha Booster packs for roughly $1.5 million
– Pokémon: a complete first-edition base set for about $750,000 and a sealed first-edition booster box for about $257,500
– Ancient history: an Eid Mar denarius, the Roman coin commemorating Julius Caesar’s assassination, for about $601,545
– Space memorabilia: a piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ original airplane, carried to the moon by Neil Armstrong, for about $137,500
That is a lot of cardboard and fabric, and it happens to rhyme with a trend crypto readers have noticed lately: Pokémon cards have been outperforming Bitcoin in 2026, and Coinbase recently announced a Pokémon pack product.
What the Government Got Back
Investigators seized the Black Lotus, the Wright brothers fabric and some of the coins from Spalletta’s home under a court-authorized search warrant. In February 2025, authorities also seized cryptocurrency from the Uranium hacks worth about $31 million at the time. Prosecutors have asked anyone who believes they were a victim of the Uranium hacks to contact Homeland Security Investigations.
Why Crypto Users Should Care
This case lands in a year when DeFi security has been brutal, with hundreds of millions lost to exploits across exchanges and protocols. It is a reminder of three things:
1. Exploits are prosecutable. The “the code allowed it” argument failed in front of a jury, even though the contract’s logic really was flawed.
2. A “bug bounty” is not a free pass. Returning part of the loot after taking it did not shield him.
3. Mixers don’t erase the trail. The money moved through Tornado Cash, yet investigators still traced it to assets sitting in his home and to $31 million in seized crypto.
For Uranium’s users and team, the damage was permanent: the exchange never recovered.
What Comes Next
Spalletta’s sentencing date has not been reported in the coverage I found. With convictions on both counts, he faces a potential total of 30 years in prison, though actual sentences are typically lower. For now, the case stands as a cautionary tale in the “what happens after the hack” chapter of DeFi: the code was exploited in minutes, but the consequences took more than five years to arrive.

The curated, high-impact gathering brings together top AI founders, investors, developers, and ecosystem builders across the MENA region to discuss the future of Web3 and Artificial Intelligence.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – October 8, 2026 – CryptoMondays MENA, Scale, and Minds by Animoca Brands today announced Scale: Intelligence | The AI Frontier, an exclusive event designed to unite artificial intelligence (AI) innovators, Web3 builders, venture capitalists, and industry visionaries.
Scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, 2026, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, the event will be held on the 12th Floor of the Grand Millennium in Barsha Heights, Dubai.
Presented in partnership with Ghaf Labs, Enya Labs, CryptoMondays, Nadmah, and Rox Custody, with collaboration from Salad Labs and Minds by Animoca Brands, the gathering serves as a strategic catalyst for AI expansion and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Exploring the Convergence of AI, Capital, and Decentralized Tech
“Scale: Intelligence” marks a dedicated edition of the Scale event series focusing on artificial intelligence and its synergistic role alongside Web3 and emerging technologies. Attendees will gain direct access to capital, high-level strategic panel discussions, and curated networking opportunities aimed at fostering partnerships across the local and global tech ecosystems.
Event Agenda & Details
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Time: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM GST
Location: 12th Floor, Grand Millennium, Barsha Heights, Dubai, UAE
Registration: https://luma.com/t07y5voi (Space is strictly limited)
Event Schedule:
3:00 PM: Arrivals & Curated Networking
4:00 PM: Keynote & AI Panel Discussion (Featuring industry leaders on the AI frontier)
4:30 PM – 7:00 PM: VIP Networking & Hospitality (Food and beverages provided)
Participating Event Partners
The event brings together leading global and regional partners, media networks, and technology enablers:
– Presenting & Core Partners: Ghaf Labs, CryptoMondays MENA, Nadmah, Rox Custody, Salad Labs, Minds by Animoca Brands, Boba Network, and Enya Labs.
– Ecosystem & Media Partners: D2A2, CoinNewsExtra, AURA8, DSRPTD, ACCESS Blockchain Association, Asia Token Fund, Liberland, Washington Elite, Dats Awards , BitAngels, CoinTelegram, OffChain Global , Block Tides, CryptoniteUAE, CoinEasy, Proof of Collabs, Singapore Blockchain Week 2026, Coin Edition, Coin Gabbar, Venture Week, and DATS Awards.
About Scale
Scale (Dubai) is a premium event and platform designed to unite founders, investors, and pioneers at the intersection of emerging technologies, capital, and regional innovation. Focusing on high-value networking and actionable insights, Scale bridges global tech leaders with local ecosystems in the MENA region to accelerate growth, investment, and market expansion.
About CryptoMondays MENA
CryptoMondays MENA is part of the global CryptoMondays network, Worlds largest and Oldest Web3 community initiatives worldwide. Dedicated to educating, inspiring, and connecting passion-driven leaders, developers, and investors in the crypto and blockchain space, CryptoMondays MENA regularly hosts premier gatherings across key hub cities in the Middle East to foster community engagement and industry advancement.
About Minds by Animoca Brands
Minds by Animoca Brands – Minds by Animoca Brands is a persistent AI agent platform that removes complexity while preserving full control and customization for both builders and general users. It enables anyone to deploy and direct sovereign, always-on AI agents, called Minds, without having to operate local servers or manage any hardware or software.
Media Contact & Registration: To request press credentials, interview availability with speakers, or register for the event, please visit the official page at https://luma.com/t07y5voi.

PAPHOS, CYPRUS | May 5, 2027 Cypria Maris Paphos
Cyprus is set to welcome leading professionals, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and technology experts for Cyprus Fintech Week 2027, taking place on May 5, 2027, at Cypria Maris Paphos.
The event will bring together key voices from the financial technology ecosystem to explore the latest developments shaping the future of finance. Building on Cyprus Fintech Week’s focus on financial technology, trading, digital innovation, banking, payments, digital assets, artificial intelligence, security, and financial infrastructure, the event aims to create a platform for knowledge exchange, business connections, and new opportunities.
A Platform for the Future of Finance
As financial services continue to evolve through technology and digital transformation, Cyprus Fintech Week 2027 will provide an opportunity for industry professionals to discuss emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities across the fintech landscape. The event will bring together representatives from financial institutions, fintech companies, technology providers, startups, investment firms, entrepreneurs, and other professionals working across the financial and technology sectors.
Key areas of interest will include Fintech, Banking, Payments, Trading, Digital Assets, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, and Digital Financial Infrastructure.
Connecting Industry Leaders and Innovators
Cyprus Fintech Week aims to encourage meaningful connections between established businesses and emerging companies while creating opportunities for collaboration, investment, and knowledge sharing.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet industry experts, founders, investors, executives, technology professionals, and other decision-makers while gaining insights into the technologies and developments shaping the future of financial services. The event also supports the continued growth of Cyprus as a destination for fintech, innovation, and international business. The wider Cyprus fintech ecosystem continues to develop through the growth of startups, digital payment solutions, blockchain applications, and technology-driven financial services.
An Opportunity for Businesses and Media Partners
Cyprus Fintech Week 2027 will provide businesses with opportunities to increase their visibility, connect with relevant decision-makers, and participate in conversations surrounding the future of financial technology.
Media partners will play an important role in helping bring the event and its industry discussions to a wider audience, supporting greater awareness of Cyprus’ growing fintech ecosystem and its international potential.
The event is expected to attract professionals interested in discovering new technologies, exploring business opportunities, building partnerships, and staying informed about developments across the fintech industry.
Event Details
Event: Cyprus Fintech Week 2027Date: May 5, 2027Venue: Cypria Maris Paphos, CyprusWebsite: cyprusfintechweek.com
For event information, partnership opportunities, media enquiries, and participation details, please visit the official Cyprus Fintech Week website.
About Cyprus Fintech Week
Cyprus Fintech Week is an industry-focused event designed to connect professionals across financial technology, trading, digital innovation, banking, payments, digital assets, AI, security, and infrastructure. The event provides a platform for industry leaders, innovators, startups, investors, and professionals to exchange knowledge, build relationships, and explore opportunities within the evolving fintech ecosystem.
Media & Partnership Enquiries: info@cyprusfintechweek.com
Website: cyprusfintechweek.com

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake is warning that artificial intelligence could crack the signature scheme protecting Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets sooner than quantum computers, possibly within months in the worst case. No one has broken it yet, and Drake says there is no reason to panic. But he thinks large holders should start planning now.
What Drake Said
Drake posted his warning on X on October 7. He called on the industry to calmly begin planning for “bunker mode”: a controlled move of funds into addresses that have never signed a transaction.
His practical advice:
“Holders, starting with large and sophisticated ones, should consider moving the bulk of their funds to addresses that have never signed a transaction. And when they do sign one, they should also move remaining funds to a new address (possibly generated from the same seed phrase).”
He added that this should not be rushed:
“Don’t rush. While I believe there is cause for action a rushed migration would do more harm than good. Don’t panic either.” He described the step as simple and preventative, one that “does not require new cryptography or new wallets.”
The Technology at Risk, Explained Simply
Bitcoin and Ethereum use a signature scheme called ECDSA to prove that a transaction was authorized by the owner of a private key. When you send funds, your wallet signs the transaction, and that signature reveals your public key to the network. In theory, someone who could work backward from a public key to the private key could drain the wallet.
Drake defines a “break” as recovering a private key in about a week on available hardware, such as a large GPU cluster. His worst case is that this arrives “in months not years,” before “Q-Day,” the moment quantum computers become powerful enough to break today’s encryption.
Why He Thinks AI Is the Trigger
Drake points to a string of recent surprises in mathematics. Long-held assumptions have fallen, he says, including the n log(n) bound for integer multiplication and the 3SUM conjecture. He also cited May’s disproof of the Erdős unit distance conjecture as “our warning shot.”
The latest trigger was OpenAI’s October 6 release of 722 mathematical results generated by an internal model. Drake said it made clear that “mathematical superintelligence is upon us.” He argued that elliptic curves look especially vulnerable because they have rich mathematical structure, while hash functions are designed to minimize it. He also noted that efficient quantum algorithms sometimes foreshadow efficient classical ones, so a classical counterpart to Shor’s algorithm is possible.
What the Evidence Actually Shows
It is important to be precise here. OpenAI’s release did not report any attack on ECDSA or RSA, and neither Drake nor Vitalik Buterin has pointed to evidence that ECDSA has been practically broken. Drake himself noted that cryptographic breakthroughs were strikingly under-represented among the 722 results. His warning is a risk assessment about where AI mathematics is heading, not a report that a break has happened.
What Other Notable Voices Said
Buterin responded with a call for caution. He said nobody should scramble to move funds immediately, and he highlighted the risk of losing assets in a hasty migration. He agreed that AI-accelerated math deserves serious attention, noting that most planning has assumed “elliptic curves broken, hashes safe, lattices safe.”
He added a complication: there is a good chance the concrete security of lattice-based schemes, including ML-DSA, “will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math.” Like Drake, Buterin is more optimistic about hash-based cryptography. Drake argued that exiting bunker mode safely will require “post-AI cryptography.” The Ethereum Foundation formed a dedicated post-quantum team earlier this year, and Buterin has outlined plans to move the network toward quantum-resistant cryptography. Drake also suggested that major custodians such as Binance, Bitbank, Robinhood, Bitfinex, and Tether could use this moment to strengthen their cold wallets.
Why Crypto Users Are Nervous
The fear comes down to three things:
– Irreversibility. A stolen key means stolen funds, and blockchain transactions cannot be undone. – Scale. ECDSA secures Bitcoin and Ethereum accounts alike, so a break would not be limited to one project. – Exposed keys. Project Eleven’s Bitcoin “Risq List” tracks more than 14 million addresses whose public keys are already exposed, which is the group most at risk in Drake’s scenario.
How to Protect Yourself
Based on Drake’s guidance:
– Prefer fresh addresses. Funds sitting at addresses that have never signed a transaction keep their public key hidden behind a hash. – Avoid address reuse. Once an address signs, move the remaining balance to a new address. It can be derived from the same seed phrase. – Start with large balances. Drake suggested large and sophisticated holders go first. – Migrate carefully. A mistake during a rushed transfer is a bigger near-term risk than the threat itself, as both Drake and Buterin stressed.
What Comes Next
For now, nothing has been broken. Drake’s call is about building a calm, orderly plan before a worst-case scenario forces a rushed one. Watch for further statements from the Ethereum Foundation’s post-quantum team, wallet providers, and exchanges on how they handle address migration, and for any real cryptanalytic result, which would change this debate immediately.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake is warning that artificial intelligence could crack the signature scheme protecting Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets sooner than quantum computers, possibly within months in the worst case. No one has broken it yet, and Drake says there is no reason to panic. But he thinks large holders should start planning now.
What Drake Said
Drake posted his warning on X on October 7. He called on the industry to calmly begin planning for “bunker mode”: a controlled move of funds into addresses that have never signed a transaction.
His practical advice:
“Holders, starting with large and sophisticated ones, should consider moving the bulk of their funds to addresses that have never signed a transaction. And when they do sign one, they should also move remaining funds to a new address (possibly generated from the same seed phrase).”
He added that this should not be rushed:
“Don’t rush. While I believe there is cause for action a rushed migration would do more harm than good. Don’t panic either.” He described the step as simple and preventative, one that “does not require new cryptography or new wallets.”
The Technology at Risk, Explained Simply
Bitcoin and Ethereum use a signature scheme called ECDSA to prove that a transaction was authorized by the owner of a private key. When you send funds, your wallet signs the transaction, and that signature reveals your public key to the network. In theory, someone who could work backward from a public key to the private key could drain the wallet.
Drake defines a “break” as recovering a private key in about a week on available hardware, such as a large GPU cluster. His worst case is that this arrives “in months not years,” before “Q-Day,” the moment quantum computers become powerful enough to break today’s encryption.
Why He Thinks AI Is the Trigger
Drake points to a string of recent surprises in mathematics. Long-held assumptions have fallen, he says, including the n log(n) bound for integer multiplication and the 3SUM conjecture. He also cited May’s disproof of the Erdős unit distance conjecture as “our warning shot.”
The latest trigger was OpenAI’s October 6 release of 722 mathematical results generated by an internal model. Drake said it made clear that “mathematical superintelligence is upon us.” He argued that elliptic curves look especially vulnerable because they have rich mathematical structure, while hash functions are designed to minimize it. He also noted that efficient quantum algorithms sometimes foreshadow efficient classical ones, so a classical counterpart to Shor’s algorithm is possible.
What the Evidence Actually Shows
It is important to be precise here. OpenAI’s release did not report any attack on ECDSA or RSA, and neither Drake nor Vitalik Buterin has pointed to evidence that ECDSA has been practically broken. Drake himself noted that cryptographic breakthroughs were strikingly under-represented among the 722 results. His warning is a risk assessment about where AI mathematics is heading, not a report that a break has happened.
What Other Notable Voices Said
Buterin responded with a call for caution. He said nobody should scramble to move funds immediately, and he highlighted the risk of losing assets in a hasty migration. He agreed that AI-accelerated math deserves serious attention, noting that most planning has assumed “elliptic curves broken, hashes safe, lattices safe.”
He added a complication: there is a good chance the concrete security of lattice-based schemes, including ML-DSA, “will take serious hits from the next two years of AI math.” Like Drake, Buterin is more optimistic about hash-based cryptography. Drake argued that exiting bunker mode safely will require “post-AI cryptography.” The Ethereum Foundation formed a dedicated post-quantum team earlier this year, and Buterin has outlined plans to move the network toward quantum-resistant cryptography.
Drake also suggested that major custodians such as Binance, Bitbank, Robinhood, Bitfinex, and Tether could use this moment to strengthen their cold wallets.
Why Crypto Users Are Nervous
The fear comes down to three things:
– Irreversibility. A stolen key means stolen funds, and blockchain transactions cannot be undone.
– Scale. ECDSA secures Bitcoin and Ethereum accounts alike, so a break would not be limited to one project.
– Exposed keys. Project Eleven’s Bitcoin “Risq List” tracks more than 14 million addresses whose public keys are already exposed, which is the group most at risk in Drake’s scenario.
How to Protect Yourself
Based on Drake’s guidance:
– Prefer fresh addresses. Funds sitting at addresses that have never signed a transaction keep their public key hidden behind a hash.
– Avoid address reuse. Once an address signs, move the remaining balance to a new address. It can be derived from the same seed phrase.
– Start with large balances. Drake suggested large and sophisticated holders go first.
– Migrate carefully. A mistake during a rushed transfer is a bigger near-term risk than the threat itself, as both Drake and Buterin stressed.
What Comes Next
For now, nothing has been broken. Drake’s call is about building a calm, orderly plan before a worst-case scenario forces a rushed one. Watch for further statements from the Ethereum Foundation’s post-quantum team, wallet providers, and exchanges on how they handle address migration, and for any real cryptanalytic result, which would change this debate immediately.

PAPHOS, CYPRUS | May 5, 2027
Cypria Maris Paphos
Cyprus is set to welcome leading professionals, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and
technology experts for Cyprus Fintech Week 2027, taking place on May 5, 2027, at
Cypria Maris Paphos.
The event will bring together key voices from the financial technology ecosystem to
explore the latest developments shaping the future of finance. Building on Cyprus Fintech
Week’s focus on financial technology, trading, digital innovation, banking, payments,
digital assets, artificial intelligence, security, and financial infrastructure, the event aims to
create a platform for knowledge exchange, business connections, and new opportunities.
A Platform for the Future of Finance
As financial services continue to evolve through technology and digital transformation,
Cyprus Fintech Week 2027 will provide an opportunity for industry professionals to
discuss emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities across the fintech landscape.
The event will bring together representatives from financial institutions, fintech
companies, technology providers, startups, investment firms, entrepreneurs, and other
professionals working across the financial and technology sectors.
Key areas of interest will include Fintech, Banking, Payments, Trading, Digital Assets,
Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, and Digital Financial Infrastructure.
Connecting Industry Leaders and Innovators
Cyprus Fintech Week aims to encourage meaningful connections between established
businesses and emerging companies while creating opportunities for collaboration,
investment, and knowledge sharing.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet industry experts, founders, investors,
executives, technology professionals, and other decision-makers while gaining insights
into the technologies and developments shaping the future of financial services.
The event also supports the continued growth of Cyprus as a destination for fintech,
innovation, and international business. The wider Cyprus fintech ecosystem continues to
develop through the growth of startups, digital payment solutions, blockchain
applications, and technology-driven financial services.
An Opportunity for Businesses and Media Partners
Cyprus Fintech Week 2027 will provide businesses with opportunities to increase their
visibility, connect with relevant decision-makers, and participate in conversations
surrounding the future of financial technology.
Media partners will play an important role in helping bring the event and its industry
discussions to a wider audience, supporting greater awareness of Cyprus’ growing fintech
ecosystem and its international potential.
The event is expected to attract professionals interested in discovering new technologies,
exploring business opportunities, building partnerships, and staying informed about
developments across the fintech industry.
Event Details
Event: Cyprus Fintech Week 2027
Date: May 5, 2027
Venue: Cypria Maris Paphos, Cyprus
Website: cyprusfintechweek.com
For event information, partnership opportunities, media enquiries, and participation
details, please visit the official Cyprus Fintech Week website.
About Cyprus Fintech Week
Cyprus Fintech Week is an industry-focused event designed to connect professionals
across financial technology, trading, digital innovation, banking, payments, digital assets,
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Abstract, the Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain backed by the team behind Pudgy Penguins, announced it will shut down on December 15, 2026, becoming the second high-profile consumer-focused L2 to fold in recent weeks after Blast’s own closure announcement.
Together, the two shutdowns mark a turning point for a once-crowded category of blockchains built specifically to court mainstream consumers rather than DeFi traders — a model that has proven far harder to sustain economically than its backers originally expected.
Why Abstract Is Shutting Down
Abstract announced the closure on X, framing the decision as a response to a rapidly changed competitive landscape rather than a single acute failure.
“The industry has evolved considerably since Abstract was first conceived, and operating a chain focused exclusively on consumer crypto has ultimately proven to be unsustainable as a standalone model,” the team wrote.
The project pointed to several specific, compounding problems behind its stagnating growth:
“Our growth began to stagnate due to our restricted DeFi ecosystem, thin liquidity on the chain, minimal institutional cross-over, and limited budget compared to competitors.”
Abstract said it had spent the last 12 months exploring every possible angle to find product-market fit and scale the chain, but ultimately concluded the landscape had shifted too dramatically against it: “We wanted to make things work; but the chain landscape had changed radically and we were facing significant headwinds.” Facing a choice between continuing to burn resources on an operationally unsustainable, non-scaling chain or shutting it down, the team said it concluded after extensive deliberation that winding down was the better path forward.
What Abstract Was Built to Do
Abstract launched as an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain built using zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup technology, specifically the ZK Stack. It was developed by Igloo Inc., the parent company behind Pudgy Penguins, one of the most commercially successful NFT brands to emerge from the 2021-2022 NFT boom, giving Abstract an unusually strong consumer brand pedigree compared to most other L2 launches.
The chain was explicitly designed as a consumer-friendly blockchain intended to power gaming, social networks, digital collectibles, and mainstream crypto applications, offering low transaction fees and fast speeds. Abstract was also fully EVM-compatible, meaning developers could port existing Ethereum applications onto the chain with relative ease — a technical advantage that nonetheless wasn’t enough to overcome the broader adoption and liquidity challenges the team ultimately cited.
Blast’s Shutdown Set the Stage
Abstract’s closure follows closely behind a similar announcement from Blast, another prominent Ethereum L2 that shut down just weeks earlier. Blast launched in February 2024 as an optimistic rollup network, distinguishing itself with a notable feature: native, auto-rebasing yield automatically applied to deposited ETH and stablecoins, including its own native stablecoin, USDB. The chain generated enormous early hype, reportedly attracting around $20 million in investment backing and accumulating a substantial total value locked (TVL) at its peak, driven heavily by anticipation around its token airdrop.
In its own shutdown announcement, Blast’s team was candid about the underlying economics that forced the decision:
“We launched Blast with the goal of building a self-sustaining chain for users and developers. Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense: the ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable.”
The team expressed regret to its community:
“We’re sorry to the users and developers who believed in Blast, built on it, and supported the ecosystem. Our priority now is making the shutdown as smooth and safe as possible.”
Blast asked all users to withdraw their assets — including any balances held within the Blast PWA — back to Ethereum mainnet ahead of the chain’s closure.
The Pattern Behind Both Collapses
What links Abstract and Blast’s failures is a strikingly similar trajectory: both chains launched amid intense hype, driven in large part by airdrop speculation and strong brand or financial backing, only to see genuine user interest evaporate once the initial incentive-driven activity faded. In Blast’s case specifically, interest in the network reportedly declined sharply following its airdrop distribution, with its native token losing nearly all of its value in the aftermath — a pattern that has become uncomfortably familiar across multiple L2 launches that leaned heavily on token incentives and yield mechanics to bootstrap initial activity rather than organic application demand.
Abstract’s own stated reasons — thin on-chain liquidity, minimal institutional engagement, and a DeFi ecosystem too restricted to generate sustainable activity — describe essentially the same underlying failure mode from a different angle: a chain that successfully generated initial attention and deposits but struggled to convert that early momentum into a self-sustaining base of actual users, developers, and transaction volume once the novelty wore off.
Why Consumer-Focused L2s Specifically Are Struggling
Both shutdowns highlight a structural challenge specific to L2 blockchains explicitly positioned around consumer use cases — gaming, social apps, collectibles — rather than financial infrastructure or DeFi. Unlike DeFi-centric chains, which can generate sustainable transaction fee revenue from trading activity, lending, and liquidity provision even with a relatively modest user base, consumer-oriented chains depend heavily on achieving genuine mainstream adoption at meaningful scale to generate comparable revenue — a bar that has proven extremely difficult to clear, even for chains backed by established, well-funded consumer brands like Pudgy Penguins.
The economics cited by both teams point to the same core problem: operating a blockchain network carries real, ongoing infrastructure costs, and without sufficient transaction volume or institutional capital flowing through the chain, those costs eventually exceed whatever revenue the network generates — a gap that eventually becomes impossible to justify continuing to fund, regardless of how much initial enthusiasm or capital backing a project started with.
What This Means for the Broader L2 Landscape
The near-simultaneous shutdowns of Abstract and Blast raise pointed questions about how many other Layer-2 networks launched during the 2023-2024 L2 boom are quietly facing similar unsustainable economics. The L2 sector saw an explosion of new chain launches during that period, many promising faster transactions, lower fees, and novel incentive structures to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded field. With two prominent, well-capitalized projects now formally winding down within weeks of each other, industry observers are likely to scrutinize other consumer-focused L2s more closely for similar warning signs — thin liquidity, limited institutional engagement, and growth that stalled once initial token incentives faded.
What Users Need to Do
For users still holding assets on either chain, the practical guidance is consistent and time-sensitive. Abstract’s shutdown is scheduled for December 15, 2026, giving users a defined window to move funds off the chain before it ceases operations. Blast has similarly instructed all users to withdraw assets — including balances specifically held within the Blast progressive web app — back to Ethereum mainnet ahead of its closure. Users on either network should prioritize completing withdrawals well before each chain’s respective shutdown date, rather than waiting until the final days, to avoid potential congestion or complications as the networks wind down their infrastructure.
What Comes Next
With both Abstract and Blast now formally shutting down, attention will likely turn to whether other consumer-focused L2 projects launched during the same period face comparable pressure to either pivot their strategy, find new sources of sustainable revenue, or ultimately follow the same path toward closure. For the broader Ethereum scaling ecosystem, these shutdowns serve as a clear signal that hype and initial capital backing alone are no longer sufficient to sustain a standalone blockchain — genuine, durable user and developer adoption has become the deciding factor between L2 projects that survive and those that, like Abstract and Blast, ultimately cannot outlast the gap between their operating costs and their real economic activity.

Abstract, the Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain backed by the team behind Pudgy Penguins, announced it will shut down on December 15, 2026, becoming the second high-profile consumer-focused L2 to fold in recent weeks after Blast’s own closure announcement.
Together, the two shutdowns mark a turning point for a once-crowded category of blockchains built specifically to court mainstream consumers rather than DeFi traders — a model that has proven far harder to sustain economically than its backers originally expected.
Why Abstract Is Shutting Down
Abstract announced the closure on X, framing the decision as a response to a rapidly changed competitive landscape rather than a single acute failure.
“The industry has evolved considerably since Abstract was first conceived, and operating a chain focused exclusively on consumer crypto has ultimately proven to be unsustainable as a standalone model,” the team wrote.
The project pointed to several specific, compounding problems behind its stagnating growth:
“Our growth began to stagnate due to our restricted DeFi ecosystem, thin liquidity on the chain, minimal institutional cross-over, and limited budget compared to competitors.”
Abstract said it had spent the last 12 months exploring every possible angle to find product-market fit and scale the chain, but ultimately concluded the landscape had shifted too dramatically against it: “We wanted to make things work; but the chain landscape had changed radically and we were facing significant headwinds.” Facing a choice between continuing to burn resources on an operationally unsustainable, non-scaling chain or shutting it down, the team said it concluded after extensive deliberation that winding down was the better path forward.
What Abstract Was Built to Do
Abstract launched as an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain built using zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup technology, specifically the ZK Stack. It was developed by Igloo Inc., the parent company behind Pudgy Penguins, one of the most commercially successful NFT brands to emerge from the 2021-2022 NFT boom, giving Abstract an unusually strong consumer brand pedigree compared to most other L2 launches.
The chain was explicitly designed as a consumer-friendly blockchain intended to power gaming, social networks, digital collectibles, and mainstream crypto applications, offering low transaction fees and fast speeds. Abstract was also fully EVM-compatible, meaning developers could port existing Ethereum applications onto the chain with relative ease — a technical advantage that nonetheless wasn’t enough to overcome the broader adoption and liquidity challenges the team ultimately cited.
Blast’s Shutdown Set the Stage
Abstract’s closure follows closely behind a similar announcement from Blast, another prominent Ethereum L2 that shut down just weeks earlier. Blast launched in February 2024 as an optimistic rollup network, distinguishing itself with a notable feature: native, auto-rebasing yield automatically applied to deposited ETH and stablecoins, including its own native stablecoin, USDB. The chain generated enormous early hype, reportedly attracting around $20 million in investment backing and accumulating a substantial total value locked (TVL) at its peak, driven heavily by anticipation around its token airdrop.
In its own shutdown announcement, Blast’s team was candid about the underlying economics that forced the decision:
“We launched Blast with the goal of building a self-sustaining chain for users and developers. Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense: the ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable.”
The team expressed regret to its community:
“We’re sorry to the users and developers who believed in Blast, built on it, and supported the ecosystem. Our priority now is making the shutdown as smooth and safe as possible.”
Blast asked all users to withdraw their assets — including any balances held within the Blast PWA — back to Ethereum mainnet ahead of the chain’s closure.
The Pattern Behind Both Collapses
What links Abstract and Blast’s failures is a strikingly similar trajectory: both chains launched amid intense hype, driven in large part by airdrop speculation and strong brand or financial backing, only to see genuine user interest evaporate once the initial incentive-driven activity faded. In Blast’s case specifically, interest in the network reportedly declined sharply following its airdrop distribution, with its native token losing nearly all of its value in the aftermath — a pattern that has become uncomfortably familiar across multiple L2 launches that leaned heavily on token incentives and yield mechanics to bootstrap initial activity rather than organic application demand.
Abstract’s own stated reasons — thin on-chain liquidity, minimal institutional engagement, and a DeFi ecosystem too restricted to generate sustainable activity — describe essentially the same underlying failure mode from a different angle: a chain that successfully generated initial attention and deposits but struggled to convert that early momentum into a self-sustaining base of actual users, developers, and transaction volume once the novelty wore off.
Why Consumer-Focused L2s Specifically Are Struggling
Both shutdowns highlight a structural challenge specific to L2 blockchains explicitly positioned around consumer use cases — gaming, social apps, collectibles — rather than financial infrastructure or DeFi. Unlike DeFi-centric chains, which can generate sustainable transaction fee revenue from trading activity, lending, and liquidity provision even with a relatively modest user base, consumer-oriented chains depend heavily on achieving genuine mainstream adoption at meaningful scale to generate comparable revenue — a bar that has proven extremely difficult to clear, even for chains backed by established, well-funded consumer brands like Pudgy Penguins.
The economics cited by both teams point to the same core problem: operating a blockchain network carries real, ongoing infrastructure costs, and without sufficient transaction volume or institutional capital flowing through the chain, those costs eventually exceed whatever revenue the network generates — a gap that eventually becomes impossible to justify continuing to fund, regardless of how much initial enthusiasm or capital backing a project started with.
What This Means for the Broader L2 Landscape
The near-simultaneous shutdowns of Abstract and Blast raise pointed questions about how many other Layer-2 networks launched during the 2023-2024 L2 boom are quietly facing similar unsustainable economics. The L2 sector saw an explosion of new chain launches during that period, many promising faster transactions, lower fees, and novel incentive structures to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded field. With two prominent, well-capitalized projects now formally winding down within weeks of each other, industry observers are likely to scrutinize other consumer-focused L2s more closely for similar warning signs — thin liquidity, limited institutional engagement, and growth that stalled once initial token incentives faded.
What Users Need to Do
For users still holding assets on either chain, the practical guidance is consistent and time-sensitive. Abstract’s shutdown is scheduled for December 15, 2026, giving users a defined window to move funds off the chain before it ceases operations. Blast has similarly instructed all users to withdraw assets — including balances specifically held within the Blast progressive web app — back to Ethereum mainnet ahead of its closure. Users on either network should prioritize completing withdrawals well before each chain’s respective shutdown date, rather than waiting until the final days, to avoid potential congestion or complications as the networks wind down their infrastructure.
What Comes Next
With both Abstract and Blast now formally shutting down, attention will likely turn to whether other consumer-focused L2 projects launched during the same period face comparable pressure to either pivot their strategy, find new sources of sustainable revenue, or ultimately follow the same path toward closure. For the broader Ethereum scaling ecosystem, these shutdowns serve as a clear signal that hype and initial capital backing alone are no longer sufficient to sustain a standalone blockchain — genuine, durable user and developer adoption has become the deciding factor between L2 projects that survive and those that, like Abstract and Blast, ultimately cannot outlast the gap between their operating costs and their real economic activity.

HSBC, RAKBANK and Commercial Bank of Dubai executives join the Chapter 39 speaker line-up, with Alfa Bank and Sardine leading the sponsor roster for 10–11 November.
Dubai, UAE — 30 September 2026: The next phase of banking transformation will depend on how well its parts work together. Digital channels, payments, data, risk and core systems all contribute to the same customer experience. For financial institutions, connecting them effectively is a question of business performance, operational resilience and growth.
That challenge provides the backdrop to FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Chapter 39, taking place in Dubai on 10–11 November 2026. Organised by Exibex under the theme “Finance in Motion,” the banking and fintech summit will bring senior financial services executives and technology businesses together to examine the decisions shaping their institutions—and the connected financial system they are preparing for in 2027.
The chapter is supported by Alfa Bank as Diamond Sponsor and Sardine as Gold Sponsor, alongside Sends and BPC as Silver Sponsors, Posidex as Bronze Sponsor, and Watermelon Communications as Official PR Partner. Its two-day format combines a conference and the FINNOVEX Awards on 10 November with executive roundtables on 11 November, giving participants space to move from the wider industry discussion into more focused exchanges.
The leadership behind banking transformation
Chapter 39’s speaker line-up brings together the executives responsible for translating strategy into the way banks operate, serve customers and generate growth.
Featured speakers include Linoy Kidd, CIO, GBM MENAT at HSBC; Yan Bechet, Chief Operating Officer at HSBC UAE; Daniele Coda, Chief Commercial Officer at RAKBANK; and Vladislavs Mironovs, Chief Digital Officer at Commercial Bank of Dubai. They are joined by Abdulla Al Taee, Chief Operating Officer at United Arab Bank; Abdullah Al-Awadi, Chief Strategy Officer at Kuwait International Bank; and Alberto Diez, Chief Operating Officer at Emirates Development Bank. Further additions include Khawer Khaliq, Chief Operating Officer at Vision Bank Limited; Asim Shrivastava, Chief Credit Officer at Bank of Sharjah; and Mirel Băilă, Acting Chief Operating Officer at Al Masraf.
The range of responsibilities represented is significant. A digital banking proposition needs an operating model capable of delivering it. A faster customer journey must retain effective controls. A technology investment needs a clear commercial purpose and a practical route to implementation.
Bringing these perspectives into one programme allows participants to examine transformation across the institution, including the dependencies that can determine whether an initiative succeeds.
From digital banking to a connected financial system
Looking towards 2027, the chapter’s editorial focus extends beyond individual products and platforms to the connections between them.
A payment or lending journey can involve a bank, a fintech, a payment network and several technology providers. Each contributes to the service, but the experience depends on how reliably information and responsibilities pass between them.
For banking leaders, this raises practical questions about interoperability, data quality, governance and partnership design. For technology businesses, it places greater emphasis on how a solution fits within an institution’s wider architecture and operating priorities.
Artificial intelligence in banking, digital payments, open finance and customer experience are part of this broader discussion. Their business value depends on the systems, controls and people supporting them. Chapter 39’s “Finance in Motion” theme provides a framework for considering those relationships as organisations assess their next phase of financial services innovation.
The Dubai gathering offers an opportunity to connect current implementation challenges with the priorities taking shape for 2027: where to invest, which capabilities to strengthen and which partnerships can help institutions deliver.
Two days to compare priorities and explore partnerships
The opening-day conference will bring banking and technology perspectives into the main programme, with the FINNOVEX Awards adding industry recognition to the gathering.
The second day will be dedicated to executive roundtables. These smaller discussions will provide a setting for participants to exchange experience and examine business challenges in greater depth. For delegates, the combination offers access to a broad leadership discussion alongside more focused dialogue. For sponsors, exhibitors and technology partners, it provides an opportunity to understand the institutional context behind potential collaborations.
The participation of Alfa Bank, Sardine, Sends, BPC and Posidex brings banking and technology organisations into that exchange. Additional organisations interested in the Middle East financial services market are invited to discuss the available Chapter 39 partnership formats with Exibex. Sponsorship, exhibition and executive roundtable participation will be agreed according to availability, programme relevance and the associated deliverables.
Register for FINNOVEX Middle East 2026
Banking executives, fintech leaders and financial technology professionals can explore the speaker line-up and register through me.finnovex.com.
For sponsorship opportunities in Dubai, exhibition enquiries or the Chapter 39 partnership prospectus, contact info@exibex.com, using the subject line “FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Partnership Enquiry.”
FINNOVEX Middle East — Chapter 39 Finance in Motion 10–11 November 2026 | Dubai, UAE
About FINNOVEX
FINNOVEX is a financial services event series organised by Exibex. Through conferences, executive discussions and industry recognition, it brings banking leaders, fintech businesses and technology specialists together to examine innovation and the decisions shaping financial services.
Media, registration and sponsorship enquiries: info@exibex.com https://me.finnovex.com

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has revealed how he spent his own money going undercover to infiltrate a Chinese criminal syndicate he says laundered more than $1 billion in stolen crypto on behalf of North Korea’s Lazarus Group — deliberately losing roughly 5% on every transaction he made with the group in order to win their trust and extract intelligence on how stolen funds were being moved.
How the Operation Started
According to ZachXBT, the investigation began shortly after the February 2025 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, in which attackers stole approximately $1.5 billion in crypto assets — the largest exchange theft on record. While mapping the aftermath, ZachXBT identified more than 15 accounts across Telegram and Discord that were publicly soliciting help executing orders tied to the stolen funds. Rather than simply observing from a distance, ZachXBT decided to make direct contact, posing as a legitimate client interested in moving funds through the network.
Posing as a Customer to Build Trust
One of the accounts ZachXBT contacted belonged to a Telegram user operating under the alias “Jimmy Green.” On March 6, 2025, ZachXBT funded a new Ethereum address with 349,700 USDC specifically to conduct a series of transactions with this contact. Jimmy Green proposed exchanging the USDC on Ethereum for USDT on the TRON network. The wallet address he provided for the swap had itself been funded by a separate wallet that ZachXBT was able to trace directly back to funds stolen in the Bybit hack — an address that was also independently flagged on Bybit’s own public blacklist.
ZachXBT continued conducting additional transactions with Jimmy Green specifically to build credibility within the network. According to the investigator, as trust grew, his contact began volunteering information about upcoming movements of DPRK-linked funds. In one notable instance, Jimmy Green told ZachXBT in advance that funds would be moved to the Solana network — and, as ZachXBT documented, that transfer occurred exactly as predicted the following day. Jimmy Green reportedly told ZachXBT that his team had laundered the majority of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit, a claim ZachXBT said matched the laundering patterns he had independently observed through on-chain analysis.
Deliberately Losing Money to Gather Intelligence
To sustain the operation and keep his cover credible, ZachXBT accepted a financial loss on every single exchange, losing approximately 5% on each order. He was explicit that the goal was never profit, but rather extracting actionable intelligence as efficiently as possible. In total, he committed $349,700 of his own funds to the operation, with no guarantee the counterparty wouldn’t simply disappear with the money. “I needed to keep losing 5% on every order and take on risk in order to gather as much practical intelligence as possible in the shortest amount of time,” ZachXBT said, adding that engaging directly with the syndicate exposed him to an uncertain degree of personal risk throughout the operation.
Tracing Bybit’s Stolen Funds Across Multiple Chains
A pivotal moment in the investigation came on March 12, 2025, when Jimmy Green sent ZachXBT a screenshot documenting a cross-chain bridge transfer. ZachXBT cross-referenced the amounts and timing shown in the image against an on-chain transaction created just minutes after the message was sent, confirming the laundering activity in near real time.
Jimmy Green later provided three Solana-based addresses, allowing ZachXBT to identify a cluster holding more than $12 million in funds connected to the Bybit exploit. According to his findings, the stolen assets moved from Bitcoin to Ethereum, then to Solana, and ultimately into TRON — with transactions occurring in what ZachXBT described as near real-time succession. Tether subsequently froze 442,000 USDT tied to that specific cluster. ZachXBT also reported that the syndicate had begun using a newer laundering technique involving low-liquidity token pools on Uniswap.
A Syndicate Handling More Than Just Lazarus Funds
Over the course of their exchanges, Jimmy Green disclosed details about other operations beyond the Bybit theft. He mentioned a separate team holding approximately $300,000 that had been frozen in 2024; ZachXBT verified the claim on-chain and determined the actual figure was $332,000 in USDC, tracing the funds back to the earlier Poloniex exploit. In a separate case, Jimmy Green described laundering $3 million in fraud proceeds for a different client — funds ZachXBT traced to the hot wallet of Huione Guarantee, an entity that was subsequently sanctioned, with its former head later arrested.
Beyond the Money: A Human Relationship
ZachXBT noted that over the course of extended communication, Jimmy Green gradually volunteered increasing amounts of information about his team’s activities, and that their conversations extended well beyond crypto and laundering operations. Jimmy Green discussed playing mahjong, hunting wild rabbits, food, weight-loss diets, his family, and a Disneyland vacation. ZachXBT speculated that his contact’s unusual grammar may have reflected reliance on translation software, and said Jimmy Green also provided general operational details about the syndicate’s presence in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Handing the Evidence to Authorities
ZachXBT said all intelligence gathered during the operation was shared with vetted private-sector partners and law enforcement agencies working on the related case, and that he had withheld public details until now because of the investigation’s sensitivity. He noted that the inability to immediately publish findings remains one of the most difficult aspects of his work, adding that he currently holds substantial undisclosed information on several other ongoing cases that cannot yet be made public.
Part of a Larger Pattern
ZachXBT’s findings reinforce a pattern he has documented previously: North Korean state-linked actors generate significant ongoing crypto revenue through a range of schemes, including an estimated $1 million per month earned through fake IT workers posing as legitimate developers at crypto and tech companies — underscoring that laundering networks like the one ZachXBT infiltrated represent just one piece of a much broader, sustained effort to convert stolen and fraudulently obtained crypto into usable funds for the North Korean regime.
What This Means Going Forward
ZachXBT’s undercover operation demonstrates both the scale of organized laundering infrastructure supporting North Korea-linked crypto theft and the extent independent investigators are willing to go to expose it — accepting direct financial losses and personal risk to obtain intelligence law enforcement agencies could act on.
With Tether already freezing hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to the identified cluster and additional sanctions having followed related findings involving Huione Guarantee, the operation illustrates how blockchain transparency, combined with old-fashioned undercover investigative work, continues to produce real consequences for crypto money laundering networks — even when the full scope of what investigators uncover can’t be disclosed right away.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has revealed how he spent his own money going undercover to infiltrate a Chinese criminal syndicate he says laundered more than $1 billion in stolen crypto on behalf of North Korea’s Lazarus Group — deliberately losing roughly 5% on every transaction he made with the group in order to win their trust and extract intelligence on how stolen funds were being moved.
How the Operation Started
According to ZachXBT, the investigation began shortly after the February 2025 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, in which attackers stole approximately $1.5 billion in crypto assets — the largest exchange theft on record. While mapping the aftermath, ZachXBT identified more than 15 accounts across Telegram and Discord that were publicly soliciting help executing orders tied to the stolen funds.
Rather than simply observing from a distance, ZachXBT decided to make direct contact, posing as a legitimate client interested in moving funds through the network.
Posing as a Customer to Build Trust
One of the accounts ZachXBT contacted belonged to a Telegram user operating under the alias “Jimmy Green.” On March 6, 2025, ZachXBT funded a new Ethereum address with 349,700 USDC specifically to conduct a series of transactions with this contact. Jimmy Green proposed exchanging the USDC on Ethereum for USDT on the TRON network. The wallet address he provided for the swap had itself been funded by a separate wallet that ZachXBT was able to trace directly back to funds stolen in the Bybit hack — an address that was also independently flagged on Bybit’s own public blacklist.
ZachXBT continued conducting additional transactions with Jimmy Green specifically to build credibility within the network. According to the investigator, as trust grew, his contact began volunteering information about upcoming movements of DPRK-linked funds. In one notable instance, Jimmy Green told ZachXBT in advance that funds would be moved to the Solana network — and, as ZachXBT documented, that transfer occurred exactly as predicted the following day. Jimmy Green reportedly told ZachXBT that his team had laundered the majority of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit, a claim ZachXBT said matched the laundering patterns he had independently observed through on-chain analysis.
Deliberately Losing Money to Gather Intelligence
To sustain the operation and keep his cover credible, ZachXBT accepted a financial loss on every single exchange, losing approximately 5% on each order. He was explicit that the goal was never profit, but rather extracting actionable intelligence as efficiently as possible. In total, he committed $349,700 of his own funds to the operation, with no guarantee the counterparty wouldn’t simply disappear with the money. “I needed to keep losing 5% on every order and take on risk in order to gather as much practical intelligence as possible in the shortest amount of time,” ZachXBT said, adding that engaging directly with the syndicate exposed him to an uncertain degree of personal risk throughout the operation.
Tracing Bybit’s Stolen Funds Across Multiple Chains
A pivotal moment in the investigation came on March 12, 2025, when Jimmy Green sent ZachXBT a screenshot documenting a cross-chain bridge transfer. ZachXBT cross-referenced the amounts and timing shown in the image against an on-chain transaction created just minutes after the message was sent, confirming the laundering activity in near real time.
Jimmy Green later provided three Solana-based addresses, allowing ZachXBT to identify a cluster holding more than $12 million in funds connected to the Bybit exploit. According to his findings, the stolen assets moved from Bitcoin to Ethereum, then to Solana, and ultimately into TRON — with transactions occurring in what ZachXBT described as near real-time succession. Tether subsequently froze 442,000 USDT tied to that specific cluster. ZachXBT also reported that the syndicate had begun using a newer laundering technique involving low-liquidity token pools on Uniswap.
A Syndicate Handling More Than Just Lazarus Funds
Over the course of their exchanges, Jimmy Green disclosed details about other operations beyond the Bybit theft. He mentioned a separate team holding approximately $300,000 that had been frozen in 2024; ZachXBT verified the claim on-chain and determined the actual figure was $332,000 in USDC, tracing the funds back to the earlier Poloniex exploit. In a separate case, Jimmy Green described laundering $3 million in fraud proceeds for a different client — funds ZachXBT traced to the hot wallet of Huione Guarantee, an entity that was subsequently sanctioned, with its former head later arrested.
Beyond the Money: A Human Relationship
ZachXBT noted that over the course of extended communication, Jimmy Green gradually volunteered increasing amounts of information about his team’s activities, and that their conversations extended well beyond crypto and laundering operations. Jimmy Green discussed playing mahjong, hunting wild rabbits, food, weight-loss diets, his family, and a Disneyland vacation. ZachXBT speculated that his contact’s unusual grammar may have reflected reliance on translation software, and said Jimmy Green also provided general operational details about the syndicate’s presence in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Handing the Evidence to Authorities
ZachXBT said all intelligence gathered during the operation was shared with vetted private-sector partners and law enforcement agencies working on the related case, and that he had withheld public details until now because of the investigation’s sensitivity. He noted that the inability to immediately publish findings remains one of the most difficult aspects of his work, adding that he currently holds substantial undisclosed information on several other ongoing cases that cannot yet be made public.
Part of a Larger Pattern
ZachXBT’s findings reinforce a pattern he has documented previously: North Korean state-linked actors generate significant ongoing crypto revenue through a range of schemes, including an estimated $1 million per month earned through fake IT workers posing as legitimate developers at crypto and tech companies — underscoring that laundering networks like the one ZachXBT infiltrated represent just one piece of a much broader, sustained effort to convert stolen and fraudulently obtained crypto into usable funds for the North Korean regime.
What This Means Going Forward
ZachXBT’s undercover operation demonstrates both the scale of organized laundering infrastructure supporting North Korea-linked crypto theft and the extent independent investigators are willing to go to expose it — accepting direct financial losses and personal risk to obtain intelligence law enforcement agencies could act on.
With Tether already freezing hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to the identified cluster and additional sanctions having followed related findings involving Huione Guarantee, the operation illustrates how blockchain transparency, combined with old-fashioned undercover investigative work, continues to produce real consequences for crypto money laundering networks — even when the full scope of what investigators uncover can’t be disclosed right away.

HSBC, RAKBANK and Commercial Bank of Dubai executives join the Chapter 39 speaker line-up, with Alfa Bank and Sardine leading the sponsor roster for 10–11 November.
Dubai, UAE — 30 September 2026: The next phase of banking transformation will depend on how well its parts work together. Digital channels, payments, data, risk and core systems all contribute to the same customer experience. For financial institutions, connecting them effectively is a question of business performance, operational resilience and growth.
That challenge provides the backdrop to FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Chapter 39, taking place in Dubai on 10–11 November 2026. Organised by Exibex under the theme “Finance in Motion,” the banking and fintech summit will bring senior financial services executives and technology businesses together to examine the decisions shaping their institutions—and the connected financial system they are preparing for in 2027.
The chapter is supported by Alfa Bank as Diamond Sponsor and Sardine as Gold Sponsor, alongside Sends and BPC as Silver Sponsors, Posidex as Bronze Sponsor, and Watermelon Communications as Official PR Partner.
Its two-day format combines a conference and the FINNOVEX Awards on 10 November with executive roundtables on 11 November, giving participants space to move from the wider industry discussion into more focused exchanges.
The leadership behind banking transformation
Chapter 39’s speaker line-up brings together the executives responsible for translating strategy into the way banks operate, serve customers and generate growth.
Featured speakers include Linoy Kidd, CIO, GBM MENAT at HSBC; Yan Bechet, Chief Operating Officer at HSBC UAE; Daniele Coda, Chief Commercial Officer at RAKBANK; and Vladislavs Mironovs, Chief Digital Officer at Commercial Bank of Dubai.
They are joined by Abdulla Al Taee, Chief Operating Officer at United Arab Bank; Abdullah Al-Awadi, Chief Strategy Officer at Kuwait International Bank; and Alberto Diez, Chief Operating Officer at Emirates Development Bank.
Further additions include Khawer Khaliq, Chief Operating Officer at Vision Bank Limited; Asim Shrivastava, Chief Credit Officer at Bank of Sharjah; and Mirel Băilă, Acting Chief Operating Officer at Al Masraf.
The range of responsibilities represented is significant. A digital banking proposition needs an operating model capable of delivering it. A faster customer journey must retain effective controls. A technology investment needs a clear commercial purpose and a practical route to implementation.
Bringing these perspectives into one programme allows participants to examine transformation across the institution, including the dependencies that can determine whether an initiative succeeds.
From digital banking to a connected financial system
Looking towards 2027, the chapter’s editorial focus extends beyond individual products and platforms to the connections between them.
A payment or lending journey can involve a bank, a fintech, a payment network and several technology providers. Each contributes to the service, but the experience depends on how reliably information and responsibilities pass between them.
For banking leaders, this raises practical questions about interoperability, data quality, governance and partnership design. For technology businesses, it places greater emphasis on how a solution fits within an institution’s wider architecture and operating priorities.
Artificial intelligence in banking, digital payments, open finance and customer experience are part of this broader discussion. Their business value depends on the systems, controls and people supporting them. Chapter 39’s “Finance in Motion” theme provides a framework for considering those relationships as organisations assess their next phase of financial services innovation.
The Dubai gathering offers an opportunity to connect current implementation challenges with the priorities taking shape for 2027: where to invest, which capabilities to strengthen and which partnerships can help institutions deliver.
Two days to compare priorities and explore partnerships
The opening-day conference will bring banking and technology perspectives into the main programme, with the FINNOVEX Awards adding industry recognition to the gathering.
The second day will be dedicated to executive roundtables. These smaller discussions will provide a setting for participants to exchange experience and examine business challenges in greater depth.
For delegates, the combination offers access to a broad leadership discussion alongside more focused dialogue. For sponsors, exhibitors and technology partners, it provides an opportunity to understand the institutional context behind potential collaborations.
The participation of Alfa Bank, Sardine, Sends, BPC and Posidex brings banking and technology organisations into that exchange. Additional organisations interested in the Middle East financial services market are invited to discuss the available Chapter 39 partnership formats with Exibex.
Sponsorship, exhibition and executive roundtable participation will be agreed according to availability, programme relevance and the associated deliverables.
Register for FINNOVEX Middle East 2026
Banking executives, fintech leaders and financial technology professionals can explore the speaker line-up and register through me.finnovex.com.
For sponsorship opportunities in Dubai, exhibition enquiries or the Chapter 39 partnership prospectus, contact info@exibex.com, using the subject line “FINNOVEX Middle East 2026 — Partnership Enquiry.”
FINNOVEX Middle East — Chapter 39
Finance in Motion
10–11 November 2026 | Dubai, UAE
About FINNOVEX
FINNOVEX is a financial services event series organised by Exibex. Through conferences, executive discussions and industry recognition, it brings banking leaders, fintech businesses and technology specialists together to examine innovation and the decisions shaping financial services.
Media, registration and sponsorship enquiries:
info@exibex.com
https://me.finnovex.com

DUBAI, UAE , October 2026 – CryptoMondays MENA, presented by Minds by Animoca Brands, has officially announced its speaker panel and partner network for the upcoming gathering in Dubai on Monday, 5 October 2026, from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel.
The event brings together Web3 leaders, digital asset pioneers, institutional investors, and builders across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for an evening of market discussions, networking, and strategic collaboration.
Featured Speaker Lineup
The upcoming panel features industry figures across Web3 trading, digital asset regulation, corporate incubation, and media:
– Elja Boom (Moataz Aljondy) – Trader, Investor, and Web3 Content Creator – Saqr Ereiqat – Secretary General, Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) | Board Member, Marmin AI – Vaibhavv Ali – Co-founder of Cryptoniteuae – Sarah Fathima Ahmed – Co-founder, Cryptonite UAE – Hadir Gaber (Hash) – Trader, Investor, and Web3 Content Creator
Supported by Ecosystem Partners
The event is supported by an international coalition of ecosystem, media, and organizational partners: – BitAngels – OffChain Global – EcoX Dubai – Cryptonite UAE – Proof Of Collabs – D2A2 (Dubai Digital Asset Association) – DSRPTD – Aura8 – SINGAPORE BLOCKCHAIN WEEK (OFFICIAL) – Venture Week – Washington Elite – CoinEasy – ACCESS Blockchain Association Malaysia – Liberland
Event Summary
Event: CryptoMondays MENA (Presented by Minds by Animoca Brands) Date: Monday, 5 October 2026 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM GST Venue: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE Registration & RSVP: link
About CryptoMondays MENA – ​CryptoMondays MENA chapter in Dubai, with Vaibhavv Ali leading the room
CryptoMondays is a global initiative holding monthly gatherings in over 50 cities worldwide to foster knowledge sharing, network building, and community growth within the Web3 and blockchain ecosystem. The MENA chapter serves as a central hub for founders, investors, developers, and blockchain enthusiasts operating across the Middle East.

DUBAI, UAE , October 2026 – CryptoMondays MENA, presented by Minds by Animoca Brands, has officially announced its speaker panel and partner network for the upcoming gathering in Dubai on Monday, 5 October 2026, from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel.
The event brings together Web3 leaders, digital asset pioneers, institutional investors, and builders across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for an evening of market discussions, networking, and strategic collaboration.
Featured Speaker Lineup
The upcoming panel features industry figures across Web3 trading, digital asset regulation, corporate incubation, and media:
– Elja Boom (Moataz Aljondy) – Trader, Investor, and Web3 Content Creator
– Saqr Ereiqat – Secretary General, Dubai Digital Asset Association (D2A2) | Board Member, Marmin AI
– Vaibhavv Ali – Co-founder of Cryptoniteuae
– Sarah Fathima Ahmed – Co-founder, Cryptonite UAE
– Hadir Gaber (Hash) – Trader, Investor, and Web3 Content Creator
Supported by Ecosystem Partners
The event is supported by an international coalition of ecosystem, media, and organizational partners:
– BitAngels
– OffChain Global
– EcoX Dubai
– Cryptonite UAE
– Proof Of Collabs
– D2A2 (Dubai Digital Asset Association)
– DSRPTD
– Aura8
– SINGAPORE BLOCKCHAIN WEEK (OFFICIAL)
– Venture Week
– Washington Elite
– CoinEasy
– ACCESS Blockchain Association Malaysia
– Liberland
Event Summary
Event: CryptoMondays MENA (Presented by Minds by Animoca Brands)
Date: Monday, 5 October 2026
Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM GST
Venue: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE
Registration & RSVP: link
About CryptoMondays MENA – ​CryptoMondays MENA chapter in Dubai, with Vaibhavv Ali leading the room
CryptoMondays is a global initiative holding monthly gatherings in over 50 cities worldwide to foster knowledge sharing, network building, and community growth within the Web3 and blockchain ecosystem. The MENA chapter serves as a central hub for founders, investors, developers, and blockchain enthusiasts operating across the Middle East.

LISBON, 28 September 2026
Most casino games ask players to spin, wait and see what happens. Tap Markets takes a different approach. Players watch a moving price chart, make a prediction and tap the area they believe the price will reach within the next few seconds.
Developed by Market Games, Tap Markets is the flagship product in a new category of instantaneous market prediction games designed to bring the visual language and excitement of financial markets into iGaming.
The concept is simple.
A moving chart appears on screen together with a series of boxes. Each box represents a price range, a short time window and a predefined payout multiplier. The player selects the area they believe the price will touch before the window expires.
A typical game lasts only a few seconds, allowing players to make repeated decisions while continuously following the movement of the chart.
The experience is designed to feel familiar to anyone who follows markets, crypto or trading charts, while remaining simple enough for a casino player to understand immediately.
“Crash games showed that players enjoy watching movement unfold in real time. With Tap Markets, we wanted to make that movement directly playable,” said Yoni Avital, CEO of Market Games. “The chart itself becomes the game. Players watch it, form an opinion and tap the area they think the price will reach next.”
Tap Markets is built around four simple actions.
Choose a target
The player selects a box showing the price range, duration and payout before placing the stake.
Tap
The selection is accepted in real time. There is no leverage, margin or trading account. The player risks only the amount staked on that individual game.
Watch
The chart continues moving during the selected time window. If the price reaches the chosen area within the defined conditions, the game settles immediately.
Verify
Each game can be supported by a cryptographic verification record, allowing the result and relevant price data to be independently checked.
Tap Markets and Tap Trading
The Market Games portfolio offers two price environments. Tap Markets uses a simulated virtual chart, while Tap Trading follows real crypto market prices.
Tap Trading on live prices
Tap Trading uses a live BTC and ETH price index built from external market data. Players tap a price range and the outcome follows the real index during a short time window.
Tap Trading brings real crypto price movement into a fixed odds game format. Players see the payout before staking, and there is no margin or trading account.
Tap Markets on synthetic paths
Tap Markets uses a simulated virtual price path generated through provably fair RNG logic. Market themes can include crypto, gold, oil and other assets without presenting the chart as an executable market price.
The displayed chart represents game values rather than executable financial market prices. Outcomes can be configured around a defined RTP model and independently tested as part of the game certification process.
Market Games provides product disclosures so players can see whether a game uses a simulated virtual market or real market prices.
Built for casino distribution
Tap Markets was designed as a B2B casino product rather than a traditional trading platform.
Operators can integrate the game through HTML5, iframe, widget or API based environments, while maintaining control over player accounts, wallet management, KYC, responsible gaming and jurisdictional availability.
The product supports fiat, crypto and stablecoin based operator environments and is designed to work with existing casino wallet infrastructure.
Market Games is integrated with REEVO and the VBET and BetConstruct ecosystem, providing distribution paths for operators through casino aggregation channels.
A different visual language for the casino lobby
Most online casino lobbies are dominated by slots, crash games and familiar RNG formats.
Market Games is building a portfolio around a different interface: the moving market chart.
Alongside Tap Markets, the studio is developing products including Market Race, Tap Predict and Turbo Markets, all built around short duration market inspired gameplay.
“Our objective is not to recreate financial trading inside a casino,” Avital said. “We are taking something people already understand and enjoy watching, the movement of markets, and turning it into a fast entertainment format built specifically for iGaming.”
Operators can explore Tap Markets, review the verification model and see the wider Market Games portfolio online.
Meetings and product demonstrations can be booked through the Market Games contact page.
Marketing materials for Tap Markets, Market Race, Tap Predict and Turbo Markets are available through the Market Games Marketing Kit.
About Market Games
Market Games is a B2B iGaming studio developing short duration games built around market movement. Its portfolio includes Tap Markets, which uses a provably fair simulated price path, and Tap Trading, which follows real crypto index prices. The company provides games and technology for casino operators through direct integrations and aggregation partners. Learn more at Market Games online.

Dubai, UAE – September 30, 2026, CryptoMondays, the world’s largest in-real-life Web3 community, officially launched its MENA chapter on Monday, September 28, 2026, bringing together 190 registrations for an evening of high-impact panels, networking, and community building. Hosted at the Tacenda Lounge on the 68th floor of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, the event delivered on its core promise: no pitch-only floors, just a room full of builders leaving with more than they brought.
Led by Vaibhavv Ali, co-founder of Cryptonite UAE, the launch successfully connected industry leaders, investors, and founders from across the ecosystem.
“MENA already has the builders,” Ali remarked during the event. “What it has not always had is a regular, no-theatre room that connects Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Doha, and Cairo. That is the job. Not another booth crawl. A chapter.”
The evening’s agenda featured three engaging panels addressing the most pressing topics in Web3 and digital assets:
– Building Web3’s Next Chapter From Dubai: Moderated by Vaibhavv Ali, the discussion featured insights from Aishwary Gupta (Global Head of Business, Polygon Labs) , CJ Anand (Director of Advisory, Ghaf Labs) and Khalifa Aljaziri Alshehhi (Managing Director, MalyPay)
– Crypto Meets Cash: The UAE’s Wild Payments Future: A visionary panel with Saqr Ereiqat (Secretary General, Dubai Digital Asset Association | Board Member, Marmin.ai) and Khalifa Aljaziri Alshehhi (Managing Director, MalyPay).
– How to Actually Catch a Memecoin in 2026 (Without Getting Burned): A deep dive featuring trader | investor | Content Creator Sanjay Saini.
– In addition to the panels, the event featured an exclusive keynote presentation, Minds by Animoca Brands, seamlessly bridging into hours of open conversation and
Networking.
The successful turnout of participants highlighted the massive demand for genuine community spaces in the region’s rapidly growing crypto landscape. The launch was made possible through the support of key partners, including Crypto Mondays MENA, Minds by Animoca Brands, BitAngels, OffChain Global, EcoX Dubai, Cryptonite UAE, DATS AWARDS, Proof Of Collabs, D2A2, DSRPTD, Aura8, Singapore Blockchain Week, Venture Week, Washington Elite, Liberland , Access Blockchain Association and CoinEasy.
With 58 active chapters globally and over 150,000 members, CryptoMondays continues its mission to provide a space where individuals can learn, earn, and connect. The newly established MENA chapter is set to serve as the central hub for the region’s decentralized future, uniting visionaries across major Middle Eastern and North African cities.
About CryptoMondays MENA
MENA Edition is the regional room for CryptoMondays, spanning Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Doha, Cairo, and everyone building between them. Operating with the same rule as every CryptoMondays chapter since 2018leave with more than you brought the community focuses on true connection and builder-centric networking without the need for a conference badge.
Media Contact:
Vaibhavv Ali
CryptoMondays MENA / Cryptonite UAE | vali@cryptomondays.io
Event Page

Dubai, UAE – September 30, 2026, CryptoMondays, the world’s largest in-real-life Web3 community, officially launched its MENA chapter on Monday, September 28, 2026, bringing together 190 registrations for an evening of high-impact panels, networking, and community building. Hosted at the Tacenda Lounge on the 68th floor of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, the event delivered on its core promise: no pitch-only floors, just a room full of builders leaving with more than they brought.
Led by Vaibhavv Ali, co-founder of Cryptonite UAE, the launch successfully connected industry leaders, investors, and founders from across the ecosystem.
“MENA already has the builders,” Ali remarked during the event. “What it has not always had is a regular, no-theatre room that connects Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Doha, and Cairo. That is the job. Not another booth crawl. A chapter.”
The evening’s agenda featured three engaging panels addressing the most pressing topics in Web3 and digital assets:
– Building Web3’s Next Chapter From Dubai: Moderated by Vaibhavv Ali, the discussion featured insights from Aishwary Gupta (Global Head of Business, Polygon Labs) , CJ Anand (Director of Advisory, Ghaf Labs) and Khalifa Aljaziri Alshehhi (Managing Director, MalyPay) – Crypto Meets Cash: The UAE’s Wild Payments Future: A visionary panel with Saqr Ereiqat (Secretary General, Dubai Digital Asset Association | Board Member, Marmin.ai) and Khalifa Aljaziri Alshehhi (Managing Director, MalyPay). – How to Actually Catch a Memecoin in 2026 (Without Getting Burned): A deep dive featuring trader | investor | Content Creator Sanjay Saini. – In addition to the panels, the event featured an exclusive keynote presentation, Minds by Animoca Brands, seamlessly bridging into hours of open conversation and Networking.
The successful turnout of participants highlighted the massive demand for genuine community spaces in the region’s rapidly growing crypto landscape. The launch was made possible through the support of key partners, including Crypto Mondays MENA, Minds by Animoca Brands, BitAngels, OffChain Global, EcoX Dubai, Cryptonite UAE, DATS AWARDS, Proof Of Collabs, D2A2, DSRPTD, Aura8, Singapore Blockchain Week, Venture Week, Washington Elite, Liberland , Access Blockchain Association and CoinEasy.
With 58 active chapters globally and over 150,000 members, CryptoMondays continues its mission to provide a space where individuals can learn, earn, and connect. The newly established MENA chapter is set to serve as the central hub for the region’s decentralized future, uniting visionaries across major Middle Eastern and North African cities. About CryptoMondays MENA
MENA Edition is the regional room for CryptoMondays, spanning Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Doha, Cairo, and everyone building between them. Operating with the same rule as every CryptoMondays chapter since 2018leave with more than you brought the community focuses on true connection and builder-centric networking without the need for a conference badge.
Media Contact: Vaibhavv Ali CryptoMondays MENA / Cryptonite UAE | vali@cryptomondays.ioEvent Page

LISBON, 28 September 2026
Most casino games ask players to spin, wait and see what happens. Tap Markets takes a different approach. Players watch a moving price chart, make a prediction and tap the area they believe the price will reach within the next few seconds.
Developed by Market Games, Tap Markets is the flagship product in a new category of instantaneous market prediction games designed to bring the visual language and excitement of financial markets into iGaming.
The concept is simple.
A moving chart appears on screen together with a series of boxes. Each box represents a price range, a short time window and a predefined payout multiplier. The player selects the area they believe the price will touch before the window expires.
A typical game lasts only a few seconds, allowing players to make repeated decisions while continuously following the movement of the chart.
The experience is designed to feel familiar to anyone who follows markets, crypto or trading charts, while remaining simple enough for a casino player to understand immediately.
“Crash games showed that players enjoy watching movement unfold in real time. With Tap Markets, we wanted to make that movement directly playable,” said Yoni Avital, CEO of Market Games. “The chart itself becomes the game. Players watch it, form an opinion and tap the area they think the price will reach next.”
Tap Markets is built around four simple actions.
Choose a target
The player selects a box showing the price range, duration and payout before placing the stake.
Tap
The selection is accepted in real time. There is no leverage, margin or trading account. The player risks only the amount staked on that individual game.
Watch
The chart continues moving during the selected time window. If the price reaches the chosen area within the defined conditions, the game settles immediately.
Verify
Each game can be supported by a cryptographic verification record, allowing the result and relevant price data to be independently checked.
Tap Markets and Tap Trading
The Market Games portfolio offers two price environments. Tap Markets uses a simulated virtual chart, while Tap Trading follows real crypto market prices.
Tap Trading on live prices
Tap Trading uses a live BTC and ETH price index built from external market data. Players tap a price range and the outcome follows the real index during a short time window.
Tap Trading brings real crypto price movement into a fixed odds game format. Players see the payout before staking, and there is no margin or trading account.
Tap Markets on synthetic paths
Tap Markets uses a simulated virtual price path generated through provably fair RNG logic. Market themes can include crypto, gold, oil and other assets without presenting the chart as an executable market price.
The displayed chart represents game values rather than executable financial market prices. Outcomes can be configured around a defined RTP model and independently tested as part of the game certification process.
Market Games provides product disclosures so players can see whether a game uses a simulated virtual market or real market prices.
Built for casino distribution
Tap Markets was designed as a B2B casino product rather than a traditional trading platform.
Operators can integrate the game through HTML5, iframe, widget or API based environments, while maintaining control over player accounts, wallet management, KYC, responsible gaming and jurisdictional availability.
The product supports fiat, crypto and stablecoin based operator environments and is designed to work with existing casino wallet infrastructure.
Market Games is integrated with REEVO and the VBET and BetConstruct ecosystem, providing distribution paths for operators through casino aggregation channels.
A different visual language for the casino lobby
Most online casino lobbies are dominated by slots, crash games and familiar RNG formats.
Market Games is building a portfolio around a different interface: the moving market chart.
Alongside Tap Markets, the studio is developing products including Market Race, Tap Predict and Turbo Markets, all built around short duration market inspired gameplay.
“Our objective is not to recreate financial trading inside a casino,” Avital said. “We are taking something people already understand and enjoy watching, the movement of markets, and turning it into a fast entertainment format built specifically for iGaming.”
Operators can explore Tap Markets, review the verification model and see the wider Market Games portfolio online.
Meetings and product demonstrations can be booked through the Market Games contact page.
Marketing materials for Tap Markets, Market Race, Tap Predict and Turbo Markets are available through the Market Games Marketing Kit.
About Market Games
Market Games is a B2B iGaming studio developing short duration games built around market movement. Its portfolio includes Tap Markets, which uses a provably fair simulated price path, and Tap Trading, which follows real crypto index prices. The company provides games and technology for casino operators through direct integrations and aggregation partners. Learn more at Market Games online.