Crypto
$17B

Cryptocurrency scammers stole an all-time high of $17 billion last year, crypto analytics firm Chainalysis estimated in a Tuesday report. The figure is a more than 21% increase from the $14 billion stolen in 2024.

Scams are becoming more sophisticated as impersonations of legitimate organizations grow more popular and the use of artificial intelligence improves the effectiveness of scams.

Impersonation scams, such as an actor posing as a support representative for the largest US-based exchange, Coinbase, have climbed over 1,400% compared to 2024, with the average payment amount made in this cluster jumping more than 600%. 

Meanwhile, scams using deepfake technology and artificial intelligence have not only increased transaction volume, suggesting broader victim reach, but also generated higher returns for the scammers. 

“Our analysis reveals that, on average, scams with on-chain links to AI vendors extract $3.2 million per operation compared to $719,000 for those without an on-chain link — 4.5 times more revenue per scam,” the Chainalysis report stated. “We are moving toward a future in which virtually all scams will incorporate AI into their operations to some degree.”

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“Sentiment for crypto is firmly in the gutter” as sector sinks, with tokens hitting multiyear lows

On Thursday, altcoins swept lower as bitcoin weakened. The tokens with the biggest losses in the last 24 hours are NEAR, ethena, and Zcash, each declining double digits in the period.

Other tokens have dropped to lows not seen in over a year in the past 24 hours:

  • Ethereum dropped 4.4% to under $1,780, a level not seen since April 2025.

  • XRP declined 4.5% to an 18-month low last hit in November 2024.

  • Solana decreased 6% to trade below the $70 mark, its lowest price since December 2023.

  • Dogecoin slid below $0.09, a 27-month low last seen in February 2024.

“Sentiment for crypto is firmly in the gutter as fears surrounding BTC/STRC and its potential overflow compound and overshadow anything that can be read as positive news (e.g. CLARITY movements),” according to Sean Dawson, head of research at crypto options platform Derive.xyz.

“[Altcoins] are high beta plays to BTC and are typically sold heavily in a downturn. Simply put, I’d be even more bearish on alts,” Dawson told Sherwood News.

“Further, liquidity has been drained into this year’s ‘superhot’ narrative of AI/data centers. In other words, there are just better, more exciting opportunities elsewhere,” Dawson added.

One cryptocurrency that has bucked the downtrend has been worldcoin, the native token for World, the digital identity project backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While the broader crypto market has been pushing lower, WLD has jumped nearly 5% in the last 24 hours and 90% in the past seven days, data from CoinGecko shows.

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Solana falls to a more than 3-month low

The price of solana has been struggling, dipping below $76 briefly on Tuesday, a level not seen since February.

Despite the underlying asset suffering, solana ETFs saw $115 million of inflows in May, the highest monthly figure in 2026, data from SoSoValue shows. The investment vehicles have brought in a total of $1.1 billion since their inception last year and have yet to record a monthly outflow.

However, positive ETF flows haven’t swayed traders, who are increasingly negative: prediction market-implied odds of solana dropping under $60 in the year stand at 60%, an increase from 45% three weeks ago.

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(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

"ETF flows for Solana have been positive but relatively small, so they currently only have a marginal effect on the overall price discovery for SOL," according to Carlos Guzman, research analyst at crypto trading firm GSR.

"Solana has been caught up in the broader crypto market weakness, where, outside of a few sectors that have attracted interest of late, including perpetual exchanges, privacy, and AI, most crypto token performance has been sluggish," Guzman told Sherwood News. "The meme coin narrative that drove interest in SOL in late 2024 and early 2025 has largely subsided, so the token has found itself outside of the current zeitgeist."

Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s Noble Mobile announced on Tuesday that it acquired Helium Mobile, a wireless carrier that runs on the solana blockchain. The two companies both declined to disclose the deal’s financial details, according to a report from Fortune.

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(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

"ETF flows for Solana have been positive but relatively small, so they currently only have a marginal effect on the overall price discovery for SOL," according to Carlos Guzman, research analyst at crypto trading firm GSR.

"Solana has been caught up in the broader crypto market weakness, where, outside of a few sectors that have attracted interest of late, including perpetual exchanges, privacy, and AI, most crypto token performance has been sluggish," Guzman told Sherwood News. "The meme coin narrative that drove interest in SOL in late 2024 and early 2025 has largely subsided, so the token has found itself outside of the current zeitgeist."

Meanwhile, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s Noble Mobile announced on Tuesday that it acquired Helium Mobile, a wireless carrier that runs on the solana blockchain. The two companies both declined to disclose the deal’s financial details, according to a report from Fortune.

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