Scams

Changpeng Zhao has called for coordinated industry measures to combat address poisoning scams after a trader lost about $50 million in USDT in a single phishing incident. He is pushing for wallet-level spam filters, blacklists, and warnings, as security firms highlight rising dusting attacks and broader crypto fraud losses running into tens of billions of dollars.

AI-enhanced phishing now produces tailored messages, look‑alike sites, and synthetic voice or video lures that are harder to detect. This overview outlines five tactics attackers use and offers practical safeguards such as verification, URL inspection, and basic security tools. With awareness and routine checks, users can reduce exposure to these evolving threats.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao outlined new wallet security proposals after an investor lost $50 million in USDT to an address poisoning scam in December 2024. He suggested blacklist checks, warning prompts and filtering of low-value transactions to block "poison" addresses and reduce phishing risks for blockchain users.

India's Enforcement Directorate conducted coordinated searches on 18 December across 21 locations in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi, targeting 4th Bloc Consultants under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Investigators allege a long-running Ponzi-style crypto operation; assets and multiple wallets were identified, and a 23 December 2025 post on X noted the probe remains ongoing.

On December 25, 2025, Charles Hoskinson said Bitcoin and Cardano would not be affected by address-poisoning scams under a UTXO model. His remark followed an incident in which a single user lost almost $50 million in USDT after copying a lookalike address from transaction history on an account-based blockchain.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is calling for wallets to automatically block known poison addresses after a trader lost nearly $50 million in USDT in an address poisoning scam on December 20. He says wallet-level checks, shared blacklists and filtering spam micro‑transactions could eliminate this attack vector entirely.

A forged press release alleging Circle launched a tokenized gold-and-silver platform spread across crypto channels on Christmas Eve. On 25 December 2025, Circle said the announcement was fake and urged users not to connect wallets to any related sites, highlighting common drain-wallet tactics.

On December 24, 2025, a fraudulent "CircleMetals" platform circulated a fake press release claiming that USDC issuer Circle had launched tokenized gold and silver trading. The scam used Circle branding, fabricated executive quotes, and a website that asked users to connect their wallets for swaps between USDC and non-existent GLDC, SILC, and CIRM tokens. Circle later confirmed the announcement was false and urged users to verify product news only through its official channels.

On December 24, 2025, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao called for industry-wide measures to eradicate address poisoning after a trader's nearly $50 million USDT loss on December 19. He said Binance Wallet already uses automated checks to warn against flagged recipients and urged other platforms to deploy similar protections. The attacker later converted the funds and funneled them through Tornado Cash.

Entities linked to alleged Mt. Gox hacker Aleksey Bilyuchenko moved another 1,300 BTC worth about $114 million to unknown exchanges over the past week. Since October, these addresses have sold 2,300 BTC and still hold 4,100 BTC valued near $360 million, indicating an ongoing, controlled distribution.