Security researchers captured North Korean operatives in real time after deploying a honeypot workstation that mimicked a developer environment. The operatives, linked to the Lazarus Group's Famous Chollima division, used legitimate AI hiring tools and cloud services to establish trusted insider access rather than exploit code vulnerabilities. The operation revealed systematic use of job-automation software, VPN masking, and persistent remote-access protocols to bypass corporate security measures.

Strategy, which holds 650,000 BTC, is considering Bitcoin lending services that may provide inventory to hedge funds shorting its reserves. CEO Phong Le confirmed discussions with banks on Dec. 2, shifting the firm from passive custody to active credit operations. The move introduces counterparty risk and could compress the company's stock premium to net asset value.

PIPPIN, a Solana-based memecoin from an early 2024 AI experiment, has surged 556% over 30 days while the broader Solana memecoin sector faces declining liquidity. Blockchain data identified 50 synchronized wallets that purchased $19 million in PIPPIN, funded through HTX exchange. The token recorded over $3.19 billion in derivatives volume on December 1.

XRP spot exchange-traded funds attracted approximately $756 million in net inflows across eleven consecutive trading sessions since their November 13 launch. The four active products now hold about 0.6% of the token's total market capitalization. During the same period, XRP declined roughly 20% and traded near $2.03, according to market data.

Cardano has introduced a community proposal to allocate 70 million ADA tokens, approximately $30 million, toward integrating tier-one stablecoins, custody providers, bridges, oracles, and institutional analytics platforms. The initiative is backed by Input Output, EMURGO, the Cardano Foundation, Intersect, and the Midnight Foundation. The proposal aims to establish core DeFi infrastructure ahead of 2026, targeting expansion of the network's stablecoin base from $40 million into the low-hundreds-of-millions range.

Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin has reached $1.26 billion in total supply, with $1.03 billion or 82% deployed on Ethereum and $235 million on the XRP Ledger. The distribution reflects Ethereum's mature DeFi infrastructure and deep liquidity pools compared to XRPL's emerging ecosystem. Weekly transfer volume on Ethereum now averages approximately $1.0 billion, up from $66 million at the start of the year, according to Token Terminal.

Bitcoin dropped nearly 5% to below $87,000 during early Asian trading on December 1, erasing approximately $150 billion from total crypto market capitalization. The decline was driven by surging Japanese government bond yields, which triggered broad risk-off sentiment amid exceptionally thin trading volumes. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield climbed to 1.84%, its highest level since April 2008, leading markets to price in a potential Bank of Japan rate hike in mid-December.

A House Judiciary Committee staff report alleges President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency portfolio may be valued as high as $11.6 billion, with over $800 million in crypto asset sales income recorded in the first half of 2025. The document raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest stemming from holdings in World Liberty Financial and the TRUMP memecoin. The report suggests existing federal ethics frameworks may not adequately address structural conflicts created by these holdings.

Nasdaq's International Securities Exchange filed a proposal with the SEC on November 26 to increase the position limit for BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust options from 250,000 to one million contracts. The exchange stated the current cap restricts institutional hedging strategies. IBIT's market capitalization now ranks it among the largest US-listed products.