Weekly: A fraudster from Odesa with $1+ million, MetaMask with Google ID, CFTC opens the US to offshore exchanges, GDP in blockchain, XPL manipulation, and Solana reserve of $400 million

Pseudo-trader from Odesa scammed ₴42 million

A 32-year-old man posed as a successful crypto trader and created the illusion of an investment fund, attracting money from acquaintances. Losses exceeded ₴42 million ($1+ million). He was charged with large-scale fraud, with a sanction of up to 12 years in prison and confiscation of property.

MetaMask enabled wallet creation via Google and Apple ID

Developers introduced the Social login feature, which allows users to create or restore a wallet without a seed phrase. It is generated and encrypted locally, with access available through an account and password. This could significantly simplify onboarding for beginners.

Whales earned $46M from XPL manipulations

On August 27, an unknown whale opened a large long position on the Plasma (XPL) token on Hyperliquid, causing an instant 200% surge and mass short liquidations. Analysts estimate that a group of large holders earned $46.1 million from this move.

CFTC opens doors to offshore crypto exchanges

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission allowed foreign boards of trade (FBOT) to serve clients in the U.S. provided they are registered. This expands Americans’ access to offshore platforms and could significantly impact market competitiveness.

U.S. GDP now on blockchain

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that official real GDP data will be published on blockchain. The first hash of the quarterly release has already appeared on nine networks: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TRON, Stellar, Avalanche, Arbitrum One, Polygon PoS, and Optimism.

Sharps Technology builds reserve on Solana

Medical equipment manufacturer Sharps Technology raised $400 million to form a reserve on the Solana network. Following this, the company’s stock rose by 40.7%.

You can read more here.

Kursoff’s Opinion

This week showed how diverse the market is becoming:

• U.S. regulators are opening doors to offshore exchanges and moving towards publishing macro data on blockchain;
• technology giants like MetaMask are simplifying access for millions of new users;
• at the same time, the market is again facing fraud and manipulations — from Odesa to XPL.

The balance between innovation and security remains the key challenge for the crypto industry.