What has happened this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? The most relevant local and international events, as well as interesting background reports, are summarized concisely in this weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
Naver, South Korea’s leading internet conglomerate, will acquire crypto exchange Upbit by purchasing its parent company Dunamu Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at USD 10.3 billion. The strategic importance for the tech giant lies in Upbit’s dominant market position, holding over 80 percent market share in South Korea – one of the world’s leading crypto trading hubs with around 18 million active users, more than a third of the total population. Upon completion, Dunamu will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver Financial, with Naver retaining 46.5 percent of voting rights. According to the company, the deal is expected to support future growth initiatives based on digital assets. It aims to transform Naver Financial from a payment service into a licensed money issuer and accelerate plans for a won-based stablecoin.
The South Korean internet giant Naver intends to acquire Upbit, the operator of the country’s leading crypto exchange, for 10.3 billion USD.
Texas: first transaction for strategic bitcoin reserve
The U.S. state of Texas has invested USD 5 million into the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, making it the first American state to allocate real capital to Bitcoin. The investment follows the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act passed in summer 2025, and aims to position Bitcoin as a strategic asset comparable to gold reserves – a hedge against inflation and economic instability. The ETF position serves as a temporary solution until permanent custody infrastructure with qualified providers becomes operational, requiring on-chain verifiability, multi-signature security models, and regular audit protocols. Observers expect the move to send a signal to other states and increase institutional confidence in digital assets as legitimate state-held reserves. A total of USD 10 million has been approved for the reserve program, with USD 5 million deployed in this initial phase.
Texas invests 5 million USD in a Bitcoin ETF as a first step toward a state crypto reserve and begins operational implementation.
Binance faces serious allegations
Over 300 victims and family members of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack have filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court against Binance, co-founder Changpeng Zhao, and other executives. The plaintiffs accuse the exchange of enabling terrorist financing through inadequate anti-terror controls and weak identity verification processes – allegedly facilitating over USD 1 billion for Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Iran’s IRGC, including around USD 50 million after the attack. The legal basis is the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which allows civil liability for supporting terrorism. The plaintiffs claim Binance enabled anonymous transfers through “omnibus wallets” and lack of proper KYC, allowing funds to flow without detection or reporting. In 2023, Binance had already settled U.S. criminal charges over money laundering and sanctions violations with a USD 4.3 billion fine – CZ served four months in prison. The plaintiffs now allege that despite prior commitments, Binance’s internal compliance structures have not undergone meaningful reform.
Binance faces US lawsuit over alleged terror financing by Hamas: victims sue under the JASTA anti-terrorism law.
Layer-1 blockchain Monad launches with EVM equivalence
The Layer-1 blockchain project Monad went live this week with its mainnet and MON token. Its technical innovation lies in full EVM bytecode compatibility combined with pipelining and parallel transaction execution instead of sequential processing – designed to enable thousands of transactions per second with roughly one-second block times. Unlike “EVM-compatible” alternatives that require code modifications, Ethereum smart contracts can run on Monad without changes – placing it in direct competition with high-throughput networks like Solana and Avalanche. The architecture is optimized for moderate hardware to maintain decentralization and aims for single-slot finality. At launch, however, the network recorded under USD 100 million in total value locked and relatively low DEX volume. Market sentiment suggests that the Layer-1 space is nearing saturation.
Monad launches as a new EVM Layer-1 with high throughput and fast finality, putting it in direct competition with Solana and similar networks.
Domain crypto.swiss available as strategic brand asset
In addition: In a market where trust is decisive, premium domains serve as instant credibility anchors. Sales like ETH.com for USD 2 million or Voice.com for USD 30 million highlight the high value of such digital assets. Crypto.com was valued at up to USD 10 million. In this environment, Crypto.Swiss can position itself similarly. The name is short, memorable, market-ready, and benefits from the strong signaling power of the exclusive .swiss domain, which is only available to verified Swiss organizations.
