Crypto News Wrap: Here’s What Happened in Crypto This Week

Key Insights:

• In this week’s crypto news wrap, A trader lost six figures after clicking a fake Uniswap ad that emptied his wallet.
• Engie Brazil solar Engie may add bitcoin miners or batteries at its Assu Sol plant to use surplus power.
• Numo tap-to-pay Numo launched a free Android tap-to-pay app using Cashu and Lightning, with no extra hardware.
• Binance Iran flows Binance CEO Richard Teng called the $1.7B Iran-linked flow claim defamatory as scrutiny grows.

This week’s crypto news wrap reported a Uniswap phishing scam that drained traders, Bitcoin payments got smoother, and Binance pushed back against sanctions claims.

A recent crypto news shows how a Polymarket trader clicked on a Uniswap ad at the top of Google search and landed on a counterfeit site. After he connected his wallet, the page prompted an approval that looked normal.

That one step gave the attacker permission to empty the wallet. The trader, posting as ika_xbt, said the theft ran into six figures and wiped out his savings.

This playbook is not new. Crypto market scammers buy search ads for trusted crypto brands and route users to lookalike pages. Some steal logins.

Others rely on wallet approvals or a new wallet setup that the scammer controls. Researchers linked this incident to AngelFerno, a wallet-drainer kit sold as a service to criminals, and warned that Cyrillic Punycode domains can make fake URLs look legitimate.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said copycat apps and scam ads keep returning despite years of reporting. He argued the incentives in online advertising still favor fraud, while user defenses face limits.

Forensic investigator ZachXBT also called for tougher enforcement against phishing promotions in search results.

Engie Mulls BTC Mining to Stabilize Surplus Generation at Brazil Solar Farm

In Brazil crypto news, Engie explored Bitcoin mining as a way to use surplus electricity. The company is evaluating whether output from its 895-megawatt Assu Sol solar plant could support batteries or large power users.

Country manager Eduardo Sattamini said grid constraints already force renewables to curtail generation when supply exceeds demand. He said any rollout would take a couple of years.

Numo Targets Retail Checkout With Tap-to-Pay Bitcoin App on Cashu

On the payments front, Numo launched a free, open-source Android tap-to-pay app that accepts Bitcoin via NFC and the Lightning Network, without extra hardware. Built on the Cashu protocol, it is available as a direct APK download.

Customers tap to send Cashu eCash tokens, and merchants can set automatic withdrawals to a Lightning address once balances reach a chosen threshold.

Numo supports Lightning invoices, offline payments, and tipping. Cashu’s blind-signature design aims to keep payments private while letting users hold funds themselves.

Binance CEO in Crypto News Headlines

Binance spent the week on defense. As per recent crypto news, CEO Richard Teng rejected a Wall Street Journal report alleging the exchange facilitated $1.7 billion in crypto transfers to Iranian entities.

He said the reporting mischaracterized Binance’s compliance program and amounted to defamatory claims. Teng said Binance sent a legal demand to WSJ editor Emma Tucker seeking corrections and a full retraction.

Binance said it removed the accounts tied to the alleged flows and notified authorities.

Binance spokesperson Rachel Conlan said the company has not found any proof that it broke sanctions rules. She also said Binance did not knowingly let sanctionable activity continue on the platform.

Even so, the pressure is growing in Washington. US Senator Richard Blumenthal has opened an inquiry and is asking for documents linked to two Hong Kong entities that Binance’s own investigators had flagged.

Zhao recently appeared at a Trump-backed crypto forum and discussed expanding Binance.US operations.