Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, one unlucky crypto investor has fallen victim to a double-whammy of zero-value transfer phishing scams within three hours, losing $2.6 million. US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson batted away concerns over President Donald Trump’s memecoin dinner, and Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor hinted at another Bitcoin buy.
Crypto investor loses $2.6 million in stablecoins in double phishing scam
A single victim was scammed two times within three hours, losing a total of $2.6 million in stablecoins.
According to data shared on May 26 by crypto compliance firm Cyvers, the victim sent 843,000 worth of USDt (USDT), followed by another 1.75 million USDt around three hours later. Cyvers said the scam used a method known as a zero-value transfer, a sophisticated form of onchain phishing.
Zero-value transfers are an onchain phishing technique that abuses token transfer functions to trick users into sending real funds to attackers. The attackers exploit the token transfer From function to transfer zero tokens from the victim’s wallet to a spoofed address.
Since the amount transferred is zero, no signature by the victim’s private key is necessary for onchain inclusion. Consequently, the victims will see the outgoing transaction in their history.
The victim may trust this address since it is included in their transaction history, mistaking it as a known or safe recipient. They may then send real funds to the attacker’s address in a future transaction.
In one high-profile case, a scammer using a zero-transfer phishing attack managed to steal $20 million worth of USDT before getting blacklisted by the stablecoin’s issuer in the summer of 2023.
Speaker Johnson shrugs off Trump crypto dinner concerns
US House Speaker Mike Johnson brushed off concerns on President Donald Trump’s dinner for the top holders of his memecoin when speaking to CNN on May 25 and dodged answering whether the attendees should be made public for transparency.
“We do not know who was there. The list has not been released. We do not know how much of the money came from outside the country,” CNN’s Jake Tapper told Johnson. “I really have a difficult time imagining that if this was a Democratic president doing the exact same thing, you wouldn't be outraged.”
“Look, I don't know anything about the dinner,” Johnson answered, claiming he “was a little busy this past week,” focusing on passing a $1.6 trillion federal budget funding bill.
He added he was “not sure who was there or what the purpose was” before claiming Trump is “the most transparent president” in history and “has nothing to hide.”
Trump invited the top 220 largest holders of his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin to a dinner on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, but kept the guest list secret, with critics concerned that foreign nationals could have used the event to pay for access to the president.
Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor signals impending Bitcoin purchase
Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor hinted at an impending Bitcoin purchase by posting the Bitcoin (BTC) chart the executive typically posts on Sundays to signal that the company will acquire more Bitcoin the following day when traditional financial markets open.
"I only buy Bitcoin with money I can't afford to lose," Saylor wrote to his 4.3 million followers in an X post.
According to data from SaylorTracker, the company holds a total of 576,230 BTC, valued at over $62.5 billion, and is up over 55.5% on its investment, representing unrealized gains of over $22 billion at the time of this writing.
The company continues to be closely watched by investors as a proxy for Bitcoin and a barometer for institutional adoption of the scarce digital asset.
