Seoul prosecutors charge eight suspects linked to crypto price manipulation

Artificial intelligence-driven education technology firm, Genius Group, has announced a plan to buy Bitcoin from the proceeds of damages that the company is pursuing through the courts. In a press release published to the Singapore-headquartered company’s website on June 26, it outlined that the firm’s Board of Directors has approved a distribution plan that would see any potential damages received from litigation that Genius Group is currently embroiled in, divided equally for distribution to shareholders and for the purchase of Bitcoin for the company’s Bitcoin treasury.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashUp to $1 billion in potential damagesGenius Group CEO, Roger Hamilton, commented on the matter, stating:“We are seeking combined damages of over $1 billion. As both lawsuits are being pursued by the Company to recover damages caused by third parties directly to our shareholders, the Board believes that 100% of any proceeds from the successful outcome of these cases should be directly distributed or reinvested for the benefit of shareholders.” On X, Hamilton outlined that there’s no guarantee with regard to how much the company recovers through litigation. However, he added that if justice prevails and the company is awarded $1 billion in damages, that would equal a $7 dividend per share for shareholders and the addition of 5,000 BTC to the firm’s Bitcoin treasury. Last month, the company provided an update on a lawsuit it has taken under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Initially, $450 million in damages had been pursued but Genius Group amended the lawsuit, raising its claim to $750 million.  The lawsuit is being taken against Peter Ritz and Michael Moe as the controlling officers and directors of LZGI International, and against Michael Carter and John Clayton, in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. The company alleges that the defendants attempted to defraud Genius Group.  ‘Bitcoin First’Genius Group announced its “Bitcoin First” approach, and the launch of a Bitcoin treasury in November 2024, getting started with an initial purchase of 110 BTC valued at $10 million at that time. In April 2025, a New York court prohibited the company from selling stocks in order to fund the purchase of Bitcoin. Those court-imposed funding restrictions led to the firm selling off a small proportion of the overall Bitcoin that it was holding.  Prior to that prohibition on the purchase of Bitcoin being imposed, Genius Group had expressed the aspiration to build up its Bitcoin reserve to a value equivalent to $100 million. Wading further into the Bitcoin space, the firm acquired blockchain learning platform, XD Academy, in December 2024. On May 22, Genius Group announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals had overturned the ban imposed on the company. With that, it increased its Bitcoin holdings by 40%. As of June 17, the company held 100 BTC, valued at around $10 million. The firm plans to bring forward another lawsuit “alleging naked short selling and evidence of spoofing against certain parties,” with damages being pursued in the region of $250 million. Commenting on the coming of age of Bitcoin and the pursuit of a Bitcoin treasury strategy back in November 2024, Hamilton stated that “we're living in a unique moment in history - one most public companies will miss.” 

Having made significant strides in undertaking testing of the digital yuan in recent times, Hong Kong is expanding its e-CNY pilot testing while at the same time crafting its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), dubbed the e-HKD.Photo by Simon Zhu on UnsplashIntegrating e-CNY with FPSDuring a recent budget speech Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled plans to empower Hong Kong residents to bolster their digital yuan wallets through the local “Faster Payment System” (FPS), marking another move forward in bolstering cross-border payment efficiency.FPS is a real-time payment settlement system which enables the user to complete payments across banks through the use of recipient mobile phone numbers and email addresses. The move dovetails with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) successful completion of the inaugural phase of its e-HKD pilot, propelling it into the second phase. The e-HKD pilot is focusing on retail applications such as programmable payments, offline transactions and tokenized deposits. At the same time as the e-CNY garners momentum, the HKMA is progressing the e-HKD in terms of unlocking the full potential of CBDCs in everyday financial transactions. This consists of the exploration of retail applications in the initial phase, coupled with the transition towards more intricate functionalities in the subsequent phase, underscoring Hong Kong's intent towards driving ever greater CBDC innovation within the Chinese autonomous territory. Streamlining transactionsThe integration of the e-CNY with Hong Kong's FPS promises to streamline transactions and elevate the fluidity of cross-border payments between Hong Kong and mainland China. This initiative follows on from an announcement back in September of last year to expand the e-CNY pilot program in Hong Kong. Financial Secretary Paul Chan aims to forge a bridge between mainland China and international markets, potentially setting a global precedent for CBDC interoperability and utilization. Furthermore, Hong Kong's issuance of the world's premier multi-currency tokenized bond, followed by a subsequent batch of tokenized green bonds, signifies the city's leadership in fusing digital finance with sustainable investment strategies, drawing significant interest from global institutional investors. mBridge initiativeThe collaborative efforts of the HKMA with the Bank for International Settlements and other central banks on the mBridge CBDC project further demonstrate Hong Kong's proactive stance in shaping the trajectory of international finance. Last month, authorities in China outlined yet another initiative that is designed to bring about cross-border use of the e-CNY with Hong Kong. The mBridge initiative, a multi-CBDC platform to support cross-border payments is being harnessed to bring about greater trade using digital currency across various jurisdictions. The project involves the central banks of China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Thailand. This concerted endeavor, coupled with Hong Kong’s array of digital currency ventures, positions the city at the forefront of CBDC innovation. All of this development comes as China has established new milestones recently, with the completion of an international oil deal using the digital yuan together with similar deals involving gold and iron ore. 

GRVT Debuts zkSync’s Inaugural ‘Hyperchain’GRVT, the hybrid crypto exchange incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is all set to debut as zkSync’s inaugural “hyperchain,” marking a significant milestone in the zkSync ecosystem’s evolution.zkSync represents Ethereum’s second layer solution offering cheaper and faster transactions.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashCombining CEX and DEX qualitiesPronounced “gravity,” GRVT is an innovative platform that attempts to seamlessly blend the advantages of centralized and decentralized exchanges. It promises users a Robinhood-like experience while integrating self-custodial features akin to Uniswap-style exchanges. Matter Labs, the developer brains behind zkSync, shared news of GRVT's imminent project milestone in an interview with The Block.The introduction of GRVT as the first Hyperchain within the zkSync ecosystem has broadened the horizons of potential applications for this technology, according to Matter Labs. The project stated:“There is nothing like GRVT being built, not in the zkSync ecosystem nor outside of it. By being able to design and deploy custom hyperchains connected through hyperbridges, teams like GRVT’s can build entirely new use cases.”The ability to design and deploy custom hyperchains connected via hyperbridges opens the door to entirely new use cases, affording projects like GRVT the freedom to explore innovative possibilities.A layer 3 ValidiumGRVT will play a role as a Layer 3 Validium within the zkSync ecosystem. Validiums are Ethereum scaling networks that bear similarities to zk-rollups found in Layer 2 solutions. The critical differentiator is in how they handle data. Zk-rollups maintain data on-chain, whereas Validiums securely store it off-chain. This approach enhances user security by safeguarding against front-running and market manipulation.GRVT’s alpha version is set to make its debut next month, followed by the mainnet release in the first quarter of the upcoming year. Promising a transaction speed of up to 600,000 trades per second and less than two milliseconds of latency, GRVT leverages zkSync’s “horizontally scaling” infrastructure to deliver enhanced performance.Explaining the concept of horizontally scaling, Hong Yea, GRVT’s co-founder and CEO, told The Block:“Horizontally scaling means to deploy additional underlying pairs as new hyperchains. Say BTC/USDT perpetual futures is one hyperchain and so on. And we can look to add other infrastructure components like this as new hyperchains to scale throughout, as they can interoperate. This allows high-frequency traders to trade more efficiently with high transactions per second similar to a central exchange.”Token launchGRVT enjoys the backing of CMS Holdings, Hong Kong’s digital assets wealth manager Metalpha, alongside Matter Labs and others. Yea founded the company alongside CTO Aaron Ong and CCO Matthew Quek. Although incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, the firm employs people who are based in Hong Kong, the UK, Lithuania, and Singapore.It recently disclosed that it had successfully raised $7.1 million in pre-seed and seed funding in an equity with a token warrant round, achieving a $39 million post-money valuation. The launch of GRVT’s token is anticipated in 2024.GRVT is also making a concerted effort to obtain trading licenses in various jurisdictions. Currently, it has attained a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Lithuania, with work ongoing to achieve licensing in Bermuda. The firm hopes to then expand in Europe and the Middle East going forward.