Weekly: Metaplanet among top 5 BTC holders, NBU against Trustee Plus, Tether on its way to $500 billion

Metaplanet entered the top 5 corporate holders of digital gold

Japan’s Metaplanet announced a record deal — the purchase of 5,419 BTC for $632.5 million at an average price of $116,724.
 The company’s total balance increased to 25,555 BTC ($2.7 billion), placing it fifth among public bitcoin holders, ahead of Bullish.

EBRD: Ukrainians spent $882M on BTC purchases in a year

From July 2023 to July 2024, the volume of cryptocurrency inflows to Ukraine amounted to $106 billion. During this period, Ukrainians spent about $882 million on BTC purchases.

Trustee Plus scandal 

The National Bank completed an 18-month audit of Trustee Global and stated that the company had been providing some payment services without a license.
 The service was forced to suspend certain functions in Ukraine, but Trustee Plus CEO Vadym Hrushа assured that client assets remain safe.
 At the same time, the company recorded record growth in the EU: 7,000 users installed the app in just one day.

Coinbase preparing to become a financial super app

CEO Brian Armstrong said that Coinbase will expand its functionality to transform into a financial super app.
 He highlighted the advantages of cryptocurrencies in transaction speed and cost, criticizing card fees of 2–3%.

Tether plans $20B share placement

The USDT issuer is considering a private share placement worth $15–20 billion, which could value the company at $500 billion. Sources report that Tether is ready to allocate up to 3% of shares to investors.

Kraken raises $500M, prepares for IPO

The crypto exchange Kraken closed a new funding round of $500 million at a $15 billion valuation. This is the final stage before its IPO scheduled for 2026.
 At the same time, Bloomberg reports that the company may raise another $300 million at a $20 billion valuation.

Steam virus stole over $150,000

The game BlockBlasters, which had passed verification on Steam, turned out to be a trojan for stealing cryptocurrencies.
 Among the victims was Latvian streamer RastalandTV, who lost more than $32,000 during a charity stream.

Read more here. https://incrypted.com/ua/weekly-korekciya-na-rinku-obmezhennya-trustee-plus-v-ukrayini-ta-kupivlya-bitkoyiniv-ukrayincyami-na-882-mln/

Kursoff’s opinion

This week demonstrated both the strengthening of institutional presence in the market (Metaplanet, Tether, Kraken) and the deepening of crypto integration into Ukraine’s financial culture.
 However, the Trustee Plus case reminds us: market development is impossible without clear and transparent rules.
 And while global corporations are building multi-billion portfolios, individual users should remain extremely cautious — the Steam virus case once again highlighted the importance of cyber hygiene.