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Chronicle proof of asset powers MoonPay’s enterprise stablecoin issuance

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Chronicle proof of asset powers MoonPay’s enterprise stablecoin issuance

Chronicle, a leading provider of oracle infrastructure and verifiable onchain finance, announced its role in MoonPay’s enterprise stablecoin services built on the M0 platform. Chronicle’s oracle technology ensures the secure and accurate minting and redemption of any MoonPay issued stablecoins, providing continuous verification of underlying assets backing and maintaining the integrity of the digital dollar infrastructure.

As MoonPay scales its stablecoin issuance to enterprises across the United States, Asia, and Latin America, Chronicle’s verification layer delivers the transparency and security required for institutional adoption. The integration combines Chronicle’s proven data verification infrastructure with M0’s open, programmable stablecoin platform and MoonPay’s global payments network.

“Stablecoins require precise, independently verifiable issuance and redemption mechanisms,” said Nik Kunkel, Founder at Chronicle. “Our role in the M0 ecosystem ensures that every MoonPay stablecoin minted or redeemed is backed by verifiable underlying assets in real-time. This level of transparency and security is non-negotiable for enterprise adoption.”

Infrastructure for Enterprise-Grade Stablecoins

Chronicle’s role as a validator within the M0 platform provides several critical functions:

Continuous Underlying Asset Verification: Chronicle continuously verifies that MoonPay’s issued stablecoins are fully backed by the appropriate underlying assets, ensuring one-to-one parity with underlying assets.

Secure Minting Authorization: Before new stablecoins enter circulation, Chronicle’s validation layer confirms that sufficient collateral has been deposited, preventing over-issuance and maintaining system integrity.

Redemption Accuracy: When enterprises or end-users redeem stablecoins, Chronicle validates the transaction to ensure accurate settlement and underlying asset release, maintaining trust in the redemption process.

Multi-Chain Support: As MoonPay issues stablecoins across multiple blockchains, Chronicle’s infrastructure provides consistent verification across different networks, enabling true interoperability.

Powering the Future of Programmable Money

The technologies and their dependencies between Chronicle, MoonPay, and M0 represent a significant advancement in stablecoin infrastructure. By combining Chronicle’s data layer with MoonPay’s enterprise services and M0’s open platform, the collaboration delivers the full stack required for institutional stablecoin adoption:

  • Issuance Layer: MoonPay provides enterprise-grade stablecoin creation and management
  • Infrastructure Layer: M0 offers programmable, interoperable stablecoin protocols
  • Verification Layer: Chronicle ensures continuous verification and security
  • Distribution Layer: MoonPay’s global network enables immediate utility and access

“MoonPay works with M0 and Chronicle to provide the infrastructure and distribution required to bring stablecoin solutions to market at global scale,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and co-founder of MoonPay. “Together, we enable transparent, secure, and compliant stablecoin operations for enterprise partners.”

As MoonPay expands its stablecoin services to enterprises, fintechs, wallets, and payment service providers worldwide, Chronicle will help them safely scale to support growing transaction volumes while maintaining the precision and security that institutional users demand.

The M0 Validator Network

The M0 platform operates as an open, multi-issuer stablecoin infrastructure that relies on a distributed network of validators to maintain system security and transparency. As a validator, Chronicle plays an essential role in the platform’s architecture by providing independent verification of stablecoin operations.

“M0’s validator model creates the checks and balances necessary for a trusted digital dollar ecosystem,” said Luca Prosperi, CEO and co-founder of M0. “Chronicle’s participation strengthens the integrity of the entire network and gives enterprises the confidence that their stablecoin operations are built on verifiable, transparent infrastructure.”

Operator of Crypto-Fueled Dark Web Drug Market Sentenced to 30 Years

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Operator of Crypto-Fueled Dark Web Drug Market Sentenced to 30 Years

In brief

  • Rui-Siang Lin operated Incognito Market, facilitating over $105 million in crypto-based narcotics sales across 640,000 transactions from October 2020 to March 2024.
  • The marketplace utilized an internal crypto “bank” system, where vendors paid 5% commissions, generating over $6 million in profits for Lin.
  • Lin shut down the platform after stealing at least $1 million in user deposits and attempting extortion before his arrest at JFK Airport.

A Taiwanese national who built a crypto-fueled dark web narcotics empire worth over $105 million while moonlighting as a cybercrime trainer for Caribbean police has been sentenced to three decades in federal prison.

Rui-Siang Lin received the 30-year sentence for operating Incognito Market under the pseudonym “Pharoah,” overseeing a digital drug bazaar that sold more than one ton of narcotics, including fentanyl-laced pills, to over 400,000 buyers worldwide between October 2020 and March 2024, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon handed down the sentence following Lin’s guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and selling adulterated medication.

“Today’s sentence puts traffickers on notice: you cannot hide in the shadows of the Internet,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in the statement. “And our larger message is simple: the internet, ‘decentralization,’ ‘blockchain’—any technology—is not a license to operate a narcotics distribution business.”   

Incognito Market worked as a crypto-enabled dark web platform accessible via Tor that enabled more than 1,800 vendors to carry out over 640,000 narcotics transactions, including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and misbranded prescription drugs.

To enable anonymous crypto transactions, Incognito Market maintained its own internal “bank” where users deposited crypto into personal accounts. 

After each transaction, crypto was transferred from the buyer’s to the seller’s account, minus the 5% commission that funded operations and generated over $6 million in profits for Lin.

While managing Incognito from St. Lucia, Lin conducted a four-day training session for local police on “Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency,” later bragging about it on Facebook.

In January 2022, Lin introduced a policy explicitly allowing opiate sales on the platform, which led to fraudulent prescription drug listings, and a 27-year-old Arkansas resident later died after taking purported oxycodone purchased on Incognito Market that was laced with fentanyl.

Lin shuttered the platform in 2024 after stealing at least $1 million from users’ deposits in the Incognito Bank. 

He then attempted to extort vendors and buyers on the site while threatening to publish their transaction histories and crypto addresses unless they paid him.

Homeland Security Investigations arrested Lin at John F. Kennedy International Airport in May 2024, following a multi-agency investigation involving the FBI, DEA, FDA, and NYPD.

Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, told Decrypt the sentence “reflects how courts now view large darkweb markets as core infrastructure of the illicit underbelly of the crypto ecosystem, not fringe platforms.”

“While it falls short of the life-level outcomes in cases like Silk Road and AlphaBay, pardons aside, it still sends a clear message that running these platforms carries consequences comparable to major organized crime,” Redbord added.

In addition to the 30-year prison term, Lin was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $105 million.

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MetaMask Adds Tokenized US Stocks, ETFs via Ondo Global Markets

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MetaMask Adds Tokenized US Stocks, ETFs via Ondo Global Markets

The move lets eligible non-U.S. users trade more than 200 tokenized securities directly inside MetaMask’s self-custodial wallet.

MetaMask, a self-custodial crypto wallet developed by Consensys, has added support for tokenized U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and commodities through an integration with Ondo Finance, the companies said on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in a press release shared with The Defiant.

The update lets eligible users of MetaMask’s mobile app in supported non-U.S. jurisdictions buy, hold, and trade more than 200 tokenized U.S. securities via Ondo Global Markets, Ondo’s tokenized real-world assets (RWA) platform, which launched in October 2025. The assets can be accessed directly inside MetaMask’s self-custodial wallet, without requiring a separate trading platform or traditional brokerage account.

The integration comes as interest in tokenized RWAs continues to grow, with large institutions increasingly offering tokenized versions of traditional financial products. The tokenized RWA market currently exceeds $23 billion globally, up about 13% over the past month, according to data from RWAxyz.

Tokenized commodities, like gold and silver, in particular are expanding rapidly, with RWAxyz data showing that market at roughly $4.56 billion, up more than 28% over the past month.

“Access to U.S. markets still runs through legacy rails. Brokerage accounts, fragmented apps, and rigid trading windows haven’t meaningfully evolved,” said Joe Lubin, Founder and CEO of Consensys and co-founder of Ethereum.

“Bringing Ondo’s tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs directly into MetaMask shows what a better model looks like.”

Users can access the assets by purchasing Ondo Global Markets tokens (known as GM tokens) through MetaMask Swaps. The GM tokens, which can be purchased using USDC on Ethereum mainnet, are designed to track the market value of their underlying assets, according to the press release.

Moreover, trading is available 24 hours a day, five days a week, from Sunday evening through Friday evening, and tokens can be transferred at any time.

Ondo, whose total value locked (TVL) more than doubled since last March to reach $2.7 billion by press time, is one of several firms that has recently jumped into the tokenized stock game. Other large players include crypto exchange Kraken, which at first partnered with Backed in May to launch its tokenized stock product, xStocks, before acquiring the firm in December.

Ondo’s native token ONDO is currently trading at $0.28, up about 1.3% on the day, according to CoinGecko.

The Smarter Web Company Uplists to London Stock Exchange Main Market

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The Smarter Web Company Uplists to London Stock Exchange Main Market

The Smarter Web Company joins the London Stock Exchange Main Market, highlighting its bitcoin‑backed balance sheet and growth ambitions. The Smarter Web Company announced its admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange Main Market on February 3, 2026 after uplisting from Aquis, marking the UK web‑design firm’s first Main Market listing and noting it […]

España registra más de 22 millones de ciberamenazas en el último trimestre de 2025

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España registra más de 22 millones de ciberamenazas en el último trimestre de 2025

2 de febrero de 2026

Entre octubre y diciembre de 2025, las soluciones de Kaspersky han detectado más de 22 millones de incidentes de ciberseguridad en ordenadores de usuarios en España, incluidos ataques locales y amenazas online, según el último informe del Kaspersky Security Bulletin. Los datos reflejan que la navegación web y el uso de dispositivos externos siguen siendo dos de los principales vectores de riesgo digital en el país.

España continúa enfrentándose a un volumen considerable de ciberamenazas. De acuerdo con los datos más recientes de Kaspersky Security Bulletin, correspondientes al cuarto trimestre de 2025, se han detectado 9.236.615 amenazas que han llegado a través de la navegación por Internet (como páginas web infectadas o descargas fraudulentas) y 12.793.448 incidentes locales (como infecciones por USB, discos duros externos u otros dispositivos conectados físicamente al ordenador) en equipos de usuarios españoles.

Según el informe, un 14,7% de los usuarios en España se ha visto afectado por ciberataques online, lo que sitúa al país en la posición 71 del ranking mundial en cuanto a ciberamenazas asociadas a la navegación en Internet. En cuanto a los ciberataques locales, que incluyen infecciones a través de memorias USB, discos duros externos u otros dispositivos extraíbles, un 14,8% de los usuarios se ha visto comprometido, lo que coloca a España en el puesto 112 del ranking global.

La navegación web sigue siendo una de las principales puertas de entrada para los ciberataques. Según Kaspersky, muchos de los ataques registrados explotan vulnerabilidades en los navegadores y sus extensiones mediante técnicas conocidas como drive-by download, en las que basta con visitar una web comprometida para que el equipo quede infectado, sin que el usuario sea consciente de ello.

Especialmente preocupante es el aumento del uso de malware sin archivos (fileless), una técnica que permite a los ciberdelincuentes operar directamente en la memoria del sistema, dejando apenas rastros y dificultando su detección mediante métodos tradicionales.

A estas ciberamenazas más técnicas se suma la persistencia de la ingeniería social, que sigue desempeñando un papel clave en los ciberataques dirigidos a usuarios españoles. En estos casos, las víctimas son inducidas a descargar archivos o aplicaciones aparentemente legítimas que en realidad contienen código malicioso, aprovechando la confianza y el error humano.

El estudio subraya la importancia de contar con soluciones de seguridad capaces de detectar comportamientos sospechosos en tiempo real mediante tecnologías como la Inteligencia Artificial y el análisis de comportamiento, herramientas fundamentales para hacer frente a amenazas que evolucionan con rapidez y escapan a los enfoques tradicionales.

Kaspersky

Kaspersky es una compañía global de ciberseguridad y privacidad digital fundada en 1997. Con más de mil millones de dispositivos protegidos hasta la fecha frente a ciberamenazas emergentes y ataques dirigidos, la amplia experiencia de Kaspersky en inteligencia de amenazas y seguridad se transforma de forma constante en soluciones y servicios innovadores para proteger a particulares, empresas, infraestructuras críticas y gobiernos de todo el mundo. El porfolio completo de seguridad de la compañía incluye una protección líder de la vida digital para dispositivos personales, productos y servicios de seguridad especializados para empresas, así como soluciones Cyber Immune para hacer frente a amenazas digitales sofisticadas y en constante evolución. Ayudamos a millones de usuarios y a cerca de 200.000 clientes corporativos a proteger lo que más les importa. Más información en www.kaspersky.es

ETH’s Negative Funding Rates May Not Be A Buy Signal This Time

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ETH’s Negative Funding Rates May Not Be A Buy Signal This Time

Key takeaways:

  • Ether dropped 28% in a week to $2,110 as investors cut risk and markets wiped out leveraged traders.

  • Spot ETH ETF outflows reached $447 million as Ethereum network activity fell by 47%.

Ether (ETH) plummeted to $2,110 on Tuesday, signaling fragility following a brutal 28% price correction over seven days. Investors retreated into cash and short-term government bonds as the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 1.4%. 

Traders worry that valuations have become overextended and overly reliant on the artificial intelligence sector. Sentiment soured after Nvidia (NVDA US) CEO Jensen Huang denied plans to invest $100 billion in OpenAI.

Investors braced for additional volatility following disappointing quarterly results from fintech giant PayPal (PYPL US). Meanwhile, gold prices climbed 6% and silver gained 9%, suggesting a lack of confidence in the US Federal Reserve’s ability to prevent a recession. 

Concerns over inflated stock market valuations prompted traders to become increasingly risk-averse, causing demand for bullish leveraged ETH positions to evaporate.

ETH perpetual futures annualized funding rate. Source: laevitas.ch

The ETH perpetual futures annualized funding rate turned negative on Tuesday, indicating that shorts (sellers) are paying fees to maintain their positions. This rare shift reflects a profound lack of confidence from longs (buyers). 

Market participants are now debating whether this fear presents a strategic entry point, especially since ETH has underperformed the broader cryptocurrency market by 10% over the last 30 days.

Total crypto capitalization (blue) vs. ETH/USD (orange). Source: Tradingview

Ether investors grew uneasy as other major cryptocurrencies weathered less severe corrections over the past month; Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 17%, BNB (BNB) fell 14% and Tron (TRX) declined 4%. Ether’s weekly slide to $2,110 forced the liquidation of over $2 billion in leveraged bullish ETH futures, fueling concerns of further downside as market sentiment turns bearish.

ETH futures 24-hour liquidations, USD. Source: Coinglass

Ether pressured as exchange-traded fund outflows signal cooling demand

Ether price was further burdened by $447 million in net outflows from US-listed Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over five days. Institutional demand has cooled, despite continued accumulation from companies like Bitmine Immersion (BMNR US), Sharplink (SBET US) and The Ether Machine (ETHM US). Traders remain wary of potential sell pressure stemming from the $14.4 billion held in aggregate Ethereum ETFs.

As interest in decentralized applications (dApps) waned, the appetite for ETH diminished significantly.

Decentralized exchanges’ monthly volumes by blockchain, USD. Source: DefiLlama

Trading volumes on Ethereum decentralized exchanges (DEX) reached $52.8 billion in January, a sharp drop from $98.9 billion in October 2025. This 47% decline in activity reduces incentives for holders; typically, high demand for blockchain processing triggers the network’s burn mechanism, which shrinks the total ETH supply.

Related: Spot crypto volumes plunge to 2024 lows amid investor demand weakens

Addresses linked to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold about $2.3 million in ETH after earmarking $45 million for donations toward privacy technologies, open hardware and secure software. Buterin said that a total of 16,384 ETH from his personal holdings will be gradually deployed over the coming years.

The current lack of demand for bullish ETH perpetual futures should not be viewed as a signal for a quick reversal. Onchain metrics continue to weaken, and overall sentiment remains cautious given the prevailing macroeconomic uncertainty.