🏦 Trump's Crypto Bank Gets Federal Charter — With UAE's 'Spy Sheikh' on Board
WLTC Holdings just secured a federal banking charter from the OCC — and its single largest shareholder, at 49%, is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor and brother of its president, via StringZ Holding RSC. The Trump family holds 38%.
The OCC granted the charter on August 14. A foreign intelligence chief owning the plurality of a federally chartered #U.S. crypto bank is, to put it mildly, an unusual arrangement.
🌐 #LayerZero to Launch Blockchain-Based Exchange This Fall
#LayerZero has announced plans to launch a blockchain-based exchange this fall, marking a significant expansion beyond its core interoperability infrastructure.
No further details on the exchange's structure, supported assets, or underlying chain were disclosed in the announcement.
#LayerZero is best known as a cross-chain messaging protocol widely used across DeFi applications. The move into exchange infrastructure signals a broader ambition within its ecosystem.
An attacker hit Avici, a Solana-based neobank, draining over $1 million from user card balances in an ongoing attack. The malicious wallet held 10,005 SOL at time of reporting — and was still pulling funds. Avici's response? A vague acknowledgment of "an issue affecting card balance withdrawals," issued nearly two hours after the first drain transaction. Not exactly a rapid-response gold standard.