Justice Division arrests $328 million cryptocurrency Ponzi founder, Tehran strike sends Bitcoin plummeting

On this week’s Weekly Recap, Bitcoin fell to $63,062 earlier than recovering following the US-Israeli operation and Iran’s retaliatory missile blast assault on Tehran.

Different notable information included federal authorities’ arrest of Goliath Ventures founder Christopher Alexander Delgado on costs associated to an alleged $328 million Ponzi scheme, and MetaMask’s partnership with Mastercard to launch a self-custodial fee card nationwide.

Cryptocurrency market reacts to Center East battle

• Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $63,062 earlier than rebounding to $66,201 following reviews that the US and Israel launched coordinated assaults throughout Iran and a large explosion in Tehran.
• Ethereum (ETH) fell as little as $1,837, however recovered to $1,940 as volatility spiked after Iran launched retaliatory missiles in a number of areas together with Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Federal prosecutors indict cryptocurrency Ponzi operator

• The Division of Justice introduced the arrest of Goliath Ventures founder and CEO Christopher Alexander Delgado, 34, on federal costs associated to a $328 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
• Mr. Delgado was taken into custody in Apopka, Florida, on legal costs filed in the US District Courtroom for the Center District of Florida, charging him with wire fraud and cash laundering.

MetaMask expands crypto playing cards to US market

• MetaMask and Mastercard have formally launched the MetaMask Card in the US.
• The self-custodial crypto fee card is now obtainable for the primary time in 49 US states, together with New York.

Magic Eden focuses platform on Solana

• A outstanding NFT market has introduced plans to close down its Bitcoin and EVM-based buying and selling platform in early March 2026, together with discontinuing help for multi-chain wallets.
• The platform will proceed to completely help Solana-based property.

MoonPay introduces AI agent pockets entry

• The cryptocurrency funds platform launched a brand new product on February twenty fourth that enables synthetic intelligence programs to immediately entry digital wallets and on-chain transactions.
• MoonPay Agent is a non-custodial software program layer that enables AI brokers to create wallets, handle funds, and transact on behalf of authenticated customers.

Morgan Stanley plans a number of Bitcoin merchandise

• The banking large intends to supply a wide range of Bitcoin-related merchandise, based on Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset technique.
• These deliberate merchandise will broaden Morgan Stanley’s crypto publicity past its present restricted choices.

AI safety instrument identifies important vulnerability in XRP

• Autonomous AI safety instruments discovered A bug within the XRP Ledger could have helped attackers steal funds from community accounts with out accessing non-public keys.
• XRPL Labs disclosed on Thursday {that a} vulnerability exists within the signature verification logic of batch fixes.
• This was a pending improve that enables a number of transactions to be bundled and run collectively.

Barclays explores blockchain funds platform

• Multinational banks are reportedly contemplating constructing blockchain platforms for funds and different processes
• The London-based monetary providers large is in talks with potential expertise suppliers to make use of decentralized expertise for banking providers to develop an infrastructure to rival the likes of JPMorgan.

Kalsi penalized for insider buying and selling violation

• prediction market firm disclosed Two customers had been caught and penalized for insider buying and selling actions. Amongst them was the editor of social media star Mr. Beast.
• The corporate stated it had greater than 10 energetic insider buying and selling circumstances out of the 200 it investigated, and Wednesday’s disclosure revealed particulars of two resolved circumstances, together with a lawsuit in opposition to Artem Kaptur, who was recognized as working for James Donaldson’s Mr. Beast persona.