North Korean agents have infiltrated the cryptocurrency industry at unprecedented levels, with 15% to 20% of digital asset firms potentially employing state-backed operatives, according to Security Alliance member Pablo Sabbatella. Between 30% and 40% of job applications to crypto companies may originate from North Korea-linked actors. These individuals gain access to internal systems, production environments, and sensitive infrastructure after being hired through fraudulent recruitment channels.

A malicious Chrome extension named "Safery: Ethereum Wallet" reached fourth place in Chrome Web Store search results for "Ethereum wallet" in November, according to Socket, a security firm specializing in open-source software supply chain analysis. The extension stole user seed phrases by encoding them into micro-transactions on the Sui blockchain. This method allowed attackers to drain wallets without triggering traditional security alerts.

A 10-month cross-border investigation traced criminal funds through Binance, OKX, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and KuCoin, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Researchers documented over $408 million in transfers from Huione Group to Binance between July 2024 and July 2025. OKX received more than $226 million from Huione in the five months following its February 2025 guilty plea for operating an unlicensed money transmitter.

Stablecoins are positioned to displace traditional infrastructure in the $150 trillion annual cross-border payments market, according to Howard Davidson, CMO of Almond Fintech. With 15% of banks already offering stablecoin services and 57% exploring adoption, the technology reduces settlement times from days to seconds and can lower transaction costs by up to 99%. Recent partnerships by Western Union, Citi, and ClearBank signal institutional momentum toward blockchain-based payment rails.

Aerodrome and Velodrome, leading decentralized exchanges on Base and Optimism, reported front-end compromises early Saturday morning. Both platforms warned users to avoid primary domains and use decentralized mirror links while investigations into the DNS hijack continue. Smart contracts remain secure and unaffected.

Aerodrome, the largest decentralized exchange on Base blockchain, has issued a security alert regarding a DNS hijacking incident affecting its main domains. Two decentralized mirrors remain accessible, while centralized domains (.finance and .box) are still compromised. The platform confirmed smart contracts remain secure.

Hong Kong has transitioned Project Ensemble from sandbox testing to live pilot operations, enabling real-value transactions with tokenized deposits and digital assets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the initial focus will include tokenized money-market fund transactions and real-time treasury management. Interbank settlements will utilize the HKD Real Time Gross Settlement system.

Citi and Swift have successfully tested a Payment-versus-Payment model that settles fiat currency and blockchain assets simultaneously. The trial used smart contracts to enhance Swift's existing network rather than replacing traditional banking infrastructure. The breakthrough addresses a key bottleneck in institutional digital asset adoption by eliminating settlement risk between traditional and on-chain transactions.