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GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed holding company focused on livestreaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-powered digital human technology, plans to raise up to $300 million for a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.In a May 12 statement, GDC and its subsidiary, AI Catalysis Corp., announced entering into a common stock purchase agreement with a British Virgin Islands limited liability company to sell up to $300 million of its common stock.The proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund the firm’s crypto treasury, which will include purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.“Under this initiative, and subject to certain limitations, GDC intends to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from any share sales under the facility to the acquisition, long-term holding, and integration of crypto assets into its core treasury operations,” the company said in the announcement. GDC described the strategy as a move to align with the broader “decentralization transformation.”GDC stock price, 1-year chart. Source: NasdaqFounded in 2016, GDC is a micro-cap company with a current $34 million market capitalization, according to Nasdaq data.Related: Multi-wallet usage up 16%, but AI may address crypto fragmentation gapGDC’s chairman and CEO, Xiaojian Wang, said the initiative builds on the company’s strengths in digital technologies and positions it for a blockchain-powered industrial shift.“GDC’s adoption of crypto assets as treasury reserve holdings is a deliberate strategy that reflects both current industry trends and our unique strengths in digital technologies and the livestreaming e-commerce ecosystem,” Wang said.The stock offering was announced over a month after the firm received a noncompliance warning from Nasdaq related to its stockholders’ equity. The notice indicated that the firm reported stockholders’ equity of only $2,643, well below the minimum requirement of $2.5 million.The firm was given until May 4 to submit a plan to comply with the listing requirements. If accepted by the Nasdaq, the compliance plan will allow the firm up to 180 days from the notification period to comply with the requirements.The Nevada-based company joins a small but growing group of public firms that are allocating part of their balance sheets to crypto assets. Related: Crypto speculation dominates $600B cross-border payments: BIS reportTrump token dinner planned for top holdersGDC’s announcement coincides with an upcoming high-profile event tied to the Trump token project. The 25 largest holders of TRUMP tokens are set to attend a private dinner at the White House on May 22.However, the TRUMP memecoin project said in a May 12 X post that it has stopped considering additional purchases for the dinner and that the attendees had been notified to apply for background checks.According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin projectSome US lawmakers have criticized the dinner. Senator Cynthia Lummis reportedly said that the idea of the US President offering exclusive access for people willing to pay for it “gives [her] pause.”Crypto regulation experts also fear that the Trump family’s crypto endeavors may trigger more regulatory scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as politically affiliated memecoins introduce a new challenge for crypto legislation.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express
GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed holding company focused on livestreaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-powered digital human technology, plans to raise up to $300 million for a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.In a May 12 statement, GDC and its subsidiary, AI Catalysis Corp., announced entering into a common stock purchase agreement with a British Virgin Islands limited liability company to sell up to $300 million of its common stock.The proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund the firm’s crypto treasury, which will include purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.“Under this initiative, and subject to certain limitations, GDC intends to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from any share sales under the facility to the acquisition, long-term holding, and integration of crypto assets into its core treasury operations,” the company said in the announcement. GDC described the strategy as a move to align with the broader “decentralization transformation.”GDC stock price, 1-year chart. Source: NasdaqFounded in 2016, GDC is a micro-cap company with a current $34 million market capitalization, according to Nasdaq data.Related: Multi-wallet usage up 16%, but AI may address crypto fragmentation gapGDC’s chairman and CEO, Xiaojian Wang, said the initiative builds on the company’s strengths in digital technologies and positions it for a blockchain-powered industrial shift.“GDC’s adoption of crypto assets as treasury reserve holdings is a deliberate strategy that reflects both current industry trends and our unique strengths in digital technologies and the livestreaming e-commerce ecosystem,” Wang said.The stock offering was announced over a month after the firm received a noncompliance warning from Nasdaq related to its stockholders’ equity. The notice indicated that the firm reported stockholders’ equity of only $2,643, well below the minimum requirement of $2.5 million.The firm was given until May 4 to submit a plan to comply with the listing requirements. If accepted by the Nasdaq, the compliance plan will allow the firm up to 180 days from the notification period to comply with the requirements.The Nevada-based company joins a small but growing group of public firms that are allocating part of their balance sheets to crypto assets. Related: Crypto speculation dominates $600B cross-border payments: BIS reportTrump token dinner planned for top holdersGDC’s announcement coincides with an upcoming high-profile event tied to the Trump token project. The 25 largest holders of TRUMP tokens are set to attend a private dinner at the White House on May 22.However, the TRUMP memecoin project said in a May 12 X post that it has stopped considering additional purchases for the dinner and that the attendees had been notified to apply for background checks.According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth roughly $174 million at the time of publication.Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin projectSome US lawmakers have criticized the dinner. Senator Cynthia Lummis reportedly said that the idea of the US President offering exclusive access for people willing to pay for it “gives [her] pause.”Crypto regulation experts also fear that the Trump family’s crypto endeavors may trigger more regulatory scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as politically affiliated memecoins introduce a new challenge for crypto legislation.Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express
Cointelegraph
Nasdaq-listed GDC plans to buy Bitcoin and TRUMP memecoin for $300M
GDC plans to raise $300 million for a crypto treasury including Trump tokens, as political memecoins draw attention ahead of an exclusive dinner at...
The lawyer for a group of Caitlyn Jenner memecoin buyers said they will continue their legal fight against the ex-Olympian after a judge threw out the case for failing to adequately support the securities and fraud claims it brought.Jenner had escaped a class-action lawsuit from buyers of her self-titled memecoin, Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER) after California District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. said in a motion filed on May 9 that it was “sufficient to conclude that all nine causes of action are deficient” and sided with Jenner in dismissing the suit in its entirety for failure to state a claim.He allowed the class group to amend its suit, which must be filed by May 23, but warned it had “to be more focused and judiciously pleaded” than the original.A lawyer for the class group, Fitzgerald Monroe Flynn PC partner Jack Fitzgerald, told Cointelegraph it was “pleased the Court recognized we may be able to state some claims against the defendants, and intend to amend and press forward with the case.”Jenner and her manager, Sophia Hutchins, were sued in November by a group that bought the JENNER token and accused them of having “fraudulently solicited financially unsophisticated investors” to the token, which they alleged was an unregistered security.Lee Greenfield, a UK citizen, was added as the lead plaintiff in January and claimed he lost over $40,000 buying JENNER. But the court found, for a start, that claims of securities law violations couldn’t stand as it wasn’t alleged that his JENNER buys took place in the US, as the law requires, and gave “scant details” about the purchases.The court didn’t allow the class to swap its lead for a US-based member, adding it must report by May 16 on how the suit will proceed (highlights added for emphasis). Source: PACERCourt dismisses all claims by JENNER tokenholdersIn all, Judge Blumenfeld dismissed a further eight claims the class group brought in an amended complaint filed in February, which included accusations that Jenner and Hutchins either made misleading statements, sold unregistered securities, or committed various fraud.Judge Blumenfeld said the suit failed to allege that Jenner sold the token through a prospectus that contained an untrue statement, as “Greenfield admits that the $JENNER tokens were not sold through a prospectus.”The court also tossed a common-law fraud accusation, saying the complaint alleged omitted information and noted various X posts by Jenner “stating that she would continue to support the tokens,” but it did not identify which of the statements related to the fraud claim.The group also accused Hutchins of aiding and abetting Jenner’s allegedly fraudulent conduct, but Judge Blumenfeld said that claim failed as the complaint “does not adequately allege any viable fraud claim.”In a footnote, Judge Blumenfeld said Jenner and the class group disputed whether the JENNER token was a security, but he was not going to decide at this stage as the “securities claims fail on other grounds.”Related: Top TRUMP whales hold $174M in tokens ahead of dinner with US president “Because the determination of whether the tokens are securities is fact-dependent and may be affected by an amended pleading, the Court declines to resolve that issue at this stage and instead assumes without deciding that the tokens are securities subject to the federal securities laws,” he wrote.JENNER first launched in May 2024 via Pump.fun on the Solana blockchain but was soon embroiled in controversy after Jenner and other memecoin launching celebrities claimed collaborator Sahil Arora scammed them. Jenner relaunched the token on Ethereum, which the class group claimed tanked the value of the original Solana token, but gave Jenner the benefit of collecting a 3% fee on every transaction.JENNER has lost essentially all its value since launch. CoinGecko shows its market value has crashed to around $58,775 from a June 3 peak of nearly $7.5 million. The token has seen just $61.10 worth of trading volume over the last day.Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge
Censorship-resistant “dark stablecoins” could come in increasing demand as governments tighten their oversight of the industry. Stablecoins have been used for various groups to store assets due to a lack of government interference; however, with regulations pending, that could soon change, Ki Young Ju, CEO of crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant, said in a May 11 X post.“Soon, any stablecoin issued by a country could face strict govt regulation, similar to traditional banks. Transfers might automatically trigger tax collection through smart contracts, and wallets could be frozen or require paperwork based on government rules,” he said.“People who used stablecoins for big international transfers might start looking for censorship-resistant dark stablecoins instead.”On the heels of US President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly administration assuming power earlier this year, lawmakers are weighing stablecoin legislation, which seeks to regulate US stablecoins, ensuring their legal use for payments. The European Union has already brought in its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which, among other measures, mandates that stablecoins be regulated and transparent.Source: Ki Young JuJu speculates that a dark or private stablecoin could be created as an algorithmic stablecoin, with the value maintained through algorithmic mechanisms rather than being pegged to an external asset like gold, which makes it susceptible to interference from authorities. “One possible example could be a decentralized stablecoin that follows the price of regulated coins like USDC using data oracles like Chainlink,” he said.Another way would be stablecoins issued by countries that don’t censor financial transactions, or, for example, if Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations in the future.“USDT itself used to be considered a censorship-resistant stablecoin. If Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations under a future Trump administration, it could become a dark stablecoin in an increasingly censored internet economy,” Ju said.Privacy technology in crypto is already being usedZcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR) — while they aren’t stablecoins —already shield transactions and allow users to send and receive funds without revealing their transaction data on the blockchain.Related: Russia finance ministry official floats country making own stablecoins: ReportSeveral projects are also working on using similar technology for stablecoins, such as Zephyr Protocol, a Monero fork that hides transactions from being revealed on the blockchain. PARScoin also hides user identities, transaction values, and links to past transactions.The market cap of US dollar-denominated stablecoins has continued to grow, crossing $230 billion in April, a report from investment banking giant Citigroup found. That’s an increase of 54% since last year, with Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) dominating 90% of the market.Meanwhile, total stablecoin volumes hit $27.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing the combined volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%. Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express
Comedian and actor TJ Miller says it only takes a little over two full days to get the average person up to speed on Bitcoin. However, when asked why more celebrities aren’t Bitcoiners, he says most people simply refuse to ever sit down and study again.“It is really hard to get people to study after they graduate, from any level,” Miller told Natalie Brunell on the April 25 episode of Coin Stories. Miller claimed it takes “about 50 hours of study” to understand Bitcoin (BTC).Hollywood rewards those who “do not think differently”“So to say to somebody it is going to take 50 hours for you to understand this, they are like, ah, I don’t want to,” he said. “They can’t even watch a Netflix series; they can’t even watch White Lotus because it takes seven hours,” he said.Comedian and actor TJ Miller spoke to Bitcoiner Natalie Brunell on the Coin Stories podcast. Source: Natalie BrunellMiller said it takes “such a paradigm shift” to embrace Bitcoin, not just in money or the internet, but in life — and that’s also why you don’t see more Hollywood celebrities becoming Bitcoin maxis:“Hollywood rewards people that do not think differently.”During a Bitcoin lunch hosted by crypto entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano, Miller introduced himself that, to his knowledge, he is “the only celebrity that is a Bitcoiner.”“I can’t really think of anyone else,” Miller said. While there aren't many celebrities known to be publicly active in the Bitcoin community, many have launched their own memecoins in recent years, including Iggy Azalea, Caitlyn Jenner, and Hailey Welch aka “Hawk Tuah.”However, Miller said he has been trying to educate people on Bitcoin for quite some time. He said when Bitcoin was trading between $8,000 and $12,000, he was telling friends to “just put $1,000 into Bitcoin.”Miller is confident that, at some point in the future, there will be a Hollywood movie about the Bitcoin revolution.Related: Bitcoin ETFs on $3B ‘bender,’ log first full week of inflows in 5 weeks“But it’ll be interesting because it didn’t happen all at once,” he said. “It didn’t happen in three years, and it hasn’t happened in ten years, so it will be interesting to see how they can connect the dots,” he added.Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson recently sat down with TJ Miller, where it became evident that his enthusiasm for Bitcoin isn’t just surface-level. He wants to use his platform to educate and inspire others to take it seriously.“You can tell that I’m passionate about it. And so that’s what I’d like to do is sort of be able… to be somebody that helps bring cultural awareness, spread awareness and just a trusting name and face in the Bitcoin community that hopefully will bring more people to it,” Miller said.Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26
South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have suspended deposits for Synthetix (SNX) tokens after it was flagged by the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) for potential risks.DAXA, the self-regulatory organization establishing industry standards for South Korean exchanges, designated SNX as a cautionary item. Assets receiving this designation typically undergo rigorous evaluations to determine whether trading can continue or if delisting is necessary.Exchanges may take action, such as adding a warning tag to the asset and urging investors to take caution when engaging with it. Trading platforms can also perform additional measures, like blocking deposits or suspending trading support temporarily. Upbit and Bithumb block SNX depositsIn response to the designation, the biggest exchanges in South Korea said they are blocking deposits for SNX tokens on their platforms. Upbit announced that it had added a trading caution ticker and suspended token deposits. The exchange said it had been monitoring the developments related to the Synthetix USD (sUSD) depegging. It added that this event may damage investors through potential volatility, as SNX is used as collateral for sUSD. The exchange added that it had determined a lack of use cases for the asset, which may cause investors to suffer losses. Upbit said it would conduct a comprehensive review to decide whether to delist the asset or resume normal operations for the token. Bithumb has also blocked deposits for SNX and added a cautionary tag for the token. However, the exchange said this decision could be overturned depending on internal circumstances. If the reason for the designation is resolved, Bithumb said it would lift the restrictions. Korbit and Coinone also published investor alerts to caution traders. The two exchanges added cautionary tags to SNX tokens to alert investors who may want to trade the token. Cointelegraph reached out to Synthetix for comment but did not get a response by publication. Related: South Korean crypto emerges from failed coup into crackdown seasonsUSD struggles to recover dollar pegOn April 10, the sUSD stablecoin dropped to a five-year low of $0.83 after struggling to maintain its dollar peg in the first quarter of 2025. With the stablecoin being collateralized by the project’s native asset, Cork Protocol co-founder Rob Schmitt compared the token to Terra USD (UST), which collapsed in 2022. However, Schmitt said that sUSD has a “more manageable” debt system. On April 18, the stablecoin dipped further to $0.68, with SNX falling by 26% in a 30-day period. A Synthetix spokesperson told Cointelegraph that their team has short, medium and long-term plans to mitigate the risks. On April 21, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick threatened SNX stakers with “the stick” if they didn’t take up a newly launched staking mechanism to fix the sUSD depeg. The executive said they may put extra pressure on stakers if they don’t see enough momentum on the newly implemented mechanism. Since the warning, sUSD prices increased by 27%. On April 24, the stablecoin briefly reached $0.87. However, the token has still failed to recover its dollar peg. Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express
The host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast, Scott Melker, says he’s received word that his face and name are being impersonated by scammers, with at least one victim duped out of $4 million. On April 23, the crypto investor said, “I’m sick,” reporting that he’d been contacted by a private investigator revealing that a client of his was scammed for $4 million by a Nigerian group using his name and face as bait. “They’ve apparently scammed a number of people,” Melker said, adding, “They sent him a fake driver’s license to prove it was me,” and used his X avatar as the photo.The scammers used AI to generate the fake ID and used a fake but convincing-looking email account. “They do zoom calls with AI,” which are “apparently sophisticated,” said Melker, who added that the scammers have also spoofed accounts of his wife and kids to support identity confirmation. Fake driver's license used by scammers. Source: Scott Melker Technical analysts “TheChartGuys” reported something similar, with a person getting scammed for $5,000 after the scammers replicated their voice using AI deepfakes. Fake ID is easy to spot, says traderCrypto adviser and trader “Nebraskan Gooner” said a quick Google search easily reveals that the ID is fake. He pointed out that there were a few subtle discrepancies in the address and date formats. He said that it it sucks that these scammers are getting so sophisticated, but was “surprised how badly this was with how sophisticated of an operation these seems to be.” Cointelegraph reached out to Melker for further comments but did not receive an immediate response. Related: ‘Victim-blaming’ Americans can deter crypto scams reporting — RegulatorAI-generated scams are surging as the technology evolves. In March, California’s Department of Justice warned that it had discovered seven new types of crypto scams that involved AI. In February, Chainalysis said that 2025 will be a big year for AI scams, stating that generative AI is making scams “more scalable and affordable for bad actors to conduct.”In a recent report, software giant Microsoft said that bad actors were using AI to “supercharge their scams.” “AI tools can scan and scrape the web for company information, helping cyberattackers build detailed profiles of employees or other targets to create highly convincing social engineering lures,” it stated. “It’s going to get exponentially worse, I would imagine,” lamented Melker. Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones
