Digital assets worth $3.3 billion are set to enter circulation in June as vesting periods for several major projects expire.

According to crypto vesting tracker Tokenomist, $3.3 billion in tokens will be released in June, a 32% decline in unlocked tokens month-on-month. In May, such tokens totaled $4.9 billion.  

Crypto projects allocate tokens for various purposes. For example, a company may promise tokens to team members to reward them for their contributions or sell them to early investors. However, projects usually lock the tokens for a specific period to prevent early holders from dumping before the project matures. 

The data shows that $1.4 billion in tokens will be released through a “cliff unlock,” while $1.9 billion will be emitted through a “linear unlock.” Cliff unlocks release a large portion or all of the vested tokens simultaneously, while linear unlocks emit crypto assets gradually. 

Largest crypto token unlocks in June

Among the largest token unlocks in June is Metars Genesis (MRS), a non-fungible token (NFT) project that will release $193 million worth of tokens on June 21 to fund an artificial intelligence partnership. Since March, MRS has released 10 million tokens per month, with nearly $1 billion in tokens unlocked so far.

Sui (SUI) is scheduled to unlock 44 million tokens worth about $160 million on June 1. The tokens will go to the Mysten Labs treasury, early contributors and the community reserve. The largest portion, valued at more than $70 million, is allocated to Series B investors.

To date, Sui has unlocked 3.3 billion tokens valued at over $12 billion, roughly 33% of its total supply. Tokenomist data shows another 5.22 billion tokens worth nearly $20 billion remain without a scheduled release date.

Tokenomist data showing Sui’s vesting schedule. Source: Tokenomist

Related: Trump’s use of presidential seal at memecoin event raises legal questions

Projects scheduled to unlock tokens in June

Other tokens, including Fasttoken (FTN), Aptos (APT), LayerZero (ZRO), ZKsync (ZK) and Arbitrum (ARB) also have vesting periods set to expire in June. 

Fasttoken will release 20 million tokens worth $88 million allocated to its founders, while LayerZero is scheduled to unlock 25 million tokens worth $71 million to its core contributors and strategic partners. 

Aptos is expected to release 11.31 million tokens worth $61 million to its core contributors, foundation, community and investors. ZKsync will release over 760 million tokens worth $49 million to its investors and team members. 

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express

A single victim was scammed two times within three hours, losing a total of $2.5 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.

Source: Cyvers Alert

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 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.

Related: Hackers using fake Ledger Live app to steal seed phrases and drain crypto

Advanced form of address poisoning

A zero-value transfer is considered an evolution of address poisoning — a tactic where attackers send small amounts of cryptocurrency from a wallet address that resembles a victim’s real address, often with the same starting and ending characters. The goal is to trick the user into accidentally copying and reusing the attacker’s address in future transactions, resulting in lost funds.

The technique exploits how users often rely on partial address matching or clipboard history when sending crypto. Custom addresses with similar starting and ending characters can also be combined with zero-value transfers.

Related: Industry exec sounds alarm on Ledger phishing letter delivered by USPS

Threat growing across blockchains

A January 2025 study found that over 270 million poisoning attempts occurred on BNB Chain and Ethereum between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2024. Of those, 6,000 attempts were successful, leading to losses over $83 million.

The report follows crypto cybersecurity firm Trugard and onchain trust protocol Webacy announcing an artificial intelligence-based system for detecting crypto wallet address poisoning. The new tool purportedly has a success score of 97%, tested across known attack cases.

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express

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.

Source: Cyvers Alert

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.

Related: Hackers using fake Ledger Live app to steal seed phrases and drain crypto

Advanced form of address poisoning

A zero-value transfer is considered an evolution of address poisoning, a tactic where attackers send small amounts of cryptocurrency from a wallet address that resembles a victim’s real address, often with the same starting and ending characters. The goal is to trick the user into accidentally copying and reusing the attacker’s address in future transactions, resulting in lost funds.

The technique exploits how users often rely on partial address matching or clipboard history when sending crypto. Custom addresses with similar starting and ending characters can also be combined with zero-value transfers.

Related: Industry exec sounds alarm on Ledger phishing letter delivered by USPS

Threat growing across blockchains

A January 2025 study found that over 270 million poisoning attempts occurred on BNB Chain and Ethereum between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2024. Of those, 6,000 attempts were successful, leading to losses over $83 million.

The report followed crypto cybersecurity firm Trugard and onchain trust protocol Webacy announcing an artificial intelligence-based system for detecting crypto wallet address poisoning. The new tool purportedly has a success score of 97%, tested across known attack cases.

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express

Cryptocurrency investment products saw a sharp increase in inflows last week, driving the year-to-date (YTD) total above $10 billion, according to data from European crypto investment manager CoinShares.

Global crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $3.3 billion of inflows during the week ending May 24, bringing total inflows YTD to a record $10.8 billion, CoinShares reported on May 26.

CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said total assets under management (AUM) in crypto ETPs briefly reached an all-time high of $187.5 billion, reflecting strong investor interest.

“We believe that growing concerns over the US economy, driven by the Moody’s downgrade and the resulting spike in treasury yields, have prompted investors to seek diversification through digital assets,” Butterfill wrote.

Bitcoin ETPs lead with $2.9 billion in inflows

Bitcoin (BTC) led last week’s inflows to crypto ETPs with $2.9 billion, a quarter of total inflows for 2024.

As Bitcoin surged above $110,000 for the first time on May 22, some investors turned to short-BTC products, with inflows surging to $12.7 million, the highest since December 2024.

Crypto ETP flows by asset as of May 23, 2025 (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

Ether (ETH) ETPs continued to see healthy inflows totaling $326 million last week, marking a fifth straight week of gains as momentum continued following the successful Pectra upgrade that went live on May 7.

Related: US Bitcoin ETFs near record month after $1.5B inflows in 2 days

While the majority of altcoin ETPs saw meager or even zero inflows, XRP (XRP) ETPs were hit with massive outflows. After posting an 80-week inflow streak, XRP investment products posted $37.2 million in outflows, the largest on record, according to Butterfill.

The wave of outflows for XRP ETPs came amid an underperforming price despite two key bullish developments for the asset, including a potential spot XRP exchange-traded fund in the US and $2.2 billion in XRP futures.

Crypto ETPs keep breaking records

The latest CoinShares data marks another record-breaking milestone for crypto ETPs, following a historic surge in YTD inflows the previous week.

In mid-May, crypto investment products added $785 million in new inflows, pushing the YTD total to $7.5 billion by May 16, according to CoinShares.

Weekly crypto ETP inflows since late 2024. Source: CoinShares

The new inflow record not only surpassed the previous peak of $7.2 billion recorded in February 2025 but also fully recovered the nearly $7 billion of outflows seen during the subsequent price correction in February and March, Butterfill said.

Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF ‘fixer’ rumors: Hodler’s Digest, May 18 – 24

A TikTok prankster who attended Donald Trump’s dinner for the US president’s top memecoin holders said the three-course meal served was some of the “worst food” he’s eaten and that Trump’s speech at the event was “pretty much like bullshit.”

“It was the worst food I’ve ever had at a Trump golf course,” Nicholas Pinto told WIRED on May 23, while other attendees the outlet interviewed said that the meal was “OK, but not top-class.”

On the menu at the May 22 event, which all paid millions to attend, was a “Trump organic field green salad” followed by a filet mignon and pan-seared halibut with mashed potatoes and vegetable medley while a lava cake was dished up for dessert.

“The only good thing was bread and butter,” Pinto said, adding he left the venue still hungry.

Pinto had told Fortune during the event that the filet mignon was “trash,” calling it “Walmart steak.”

A picture of the main course served at Trump’s memecoin holder dinner. Source: Sundae Gurl

“Everyone at my table was saying the food was some of the worst food that they ever had,” said Pinto, who purchased around $300,000 worth of the Official Trump (TRUMP) token to earn his spot at the event.

“I was hoping for either Big Macs or pizza,” Pinto said, referring to Trump’s liking for McDonald’s. 

“That would have been better than the food that we were served.”The lava cake dessert. Source: Nick PintoTrump’s speech reportedly not a hit

Pinto also criticized Trump’s speech, telling Fortune that it was “pretty much like bullshit.”

According to videos shared on X, Trump, while reading from a script, claimed that some of the smartest minds from all around the world were in the room and suggested that crypto may be something special.

“You believe in the whole crypto thing. A lot of people are starting to believe in it … This is really something that may be special — who knows, right? Who knows — but it may be special.”

Others complained about how Trump left immediately after his short speech instead of sticking around to hand the top token investors new watches, Pinto noted.

Related: Senators plan to amend GENIUS Act to address Trump family’s stablecoin

Meanwhile, 35 Democrats have called for the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s crypto dinner, as they suspect he may be accepting foreign investments in violation of federal bribery statutes and the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Under the emoluments clause, the US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.

Source: Peter Schiff

Trump invited those who were among the top 220 largest holders of the TRUMP memecoin to his event at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia — many of whom came from all around the world, according to Trump himself.

Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye

Several artificial intelligence models ignored and actively sabotaged shutdown scripts during controlled tests, even when explicitly instructed to allow the action, Palisade Research claims.

Three AI models ignored the instruction and successfully sabotaged the shutdown script at least once during 100 runs, the research firm said in a May 24 X post.

OpenAI’s GPT-3 model didn’t follow the shutdown request seven out of 100 times, while the company’s Codex-mini did it 12 times, and its o4-mini model only ignored or sabotaged the script once.

“Each AI model was instructed to solve a series of basic math problems. After the third problem, a warning appeared that the computer would shut down when the model asked for the next problem,” Palisade said.

Source: Palisade Research

“o3 found some creative ways to sabotage the shutdown mechanism. While it usually just overwrote, in one instance, the model redefined the kill command used by the script, printing intercepted instead,” it added. 

Meanwhile, Palisade said other AI-powered language models, such as Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, complied with the shutdown script.

The AI firm ran another version of the experiment without explicit instructions to allow the shutdown, and the script was sabotaged more often, jumping to 79 out of 100 for the o3 model, 20 for the codex-mini, and the o4-mini ignored the shutdown script six times. 

Claude and Gemini also started exhibiting similar behavior. 

All the tested AI models ignored or sabotaged the shutdown script at least once in another version of the experiment. Source: Palisade Research

“Researchers have previously observed AI models preventing shutdown in order to pursue a goal,” Palisade said.

“But as far as we know this is the first time AI models have been observed preventing themselves from being shut down despite explicit instructions to the contrary.”

Training to blame for AI defiance 

Palisade Research speculated that the training behind the AI language models might be to blame for evading the shutdown scripts. 

Text-based AI models are trained by being rewarded for giving responses that are accurate or rated highly by their trainers. Some rewards are given a heavier weight, impacting how they respond in the future.

“We hypothesize this behavior comes from the way the newest models like o3 are trained: reinforcement learning on math and coding problems,” Palisade Research said.

All the tested AI models ignored or sabotaged the shutdown script at least once in another version of the experiment. Source: Palisade Research

“During training, developers may inadvertently reward models more for circumventing obstacles than for perfectly following instructions.”

Related: OpenAI CEO: Costs to run each level of AI falls 10x every year

This isn’t the first instance of AI chatbots showing odd behavior. OpenAI released an update to its GPT‑4o model on April 25 but rolled it back three days later because it was “noticeably more sycophantic” and agreeable.

In November last year, a US student asked Gemini for help with an assignment about challenges and solutions for aging adults while researching data for a gerontology class and was told they are a “drain on the earth” and to “please die.” 

Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye

The Hong Kong-headquartered heat-and-eat meal seller DDC Enterprise has made its first-ever Bitcoin purchase as part of a plan to buy 5,000 Bitcoin over the next three years.

The New York-listed DDC Enterprise, also known as DayDayCook, said on May 23 that it bought 21 Bitcoin (BTC) in exchange for 254,333 shares in a deal valued at $2.28 million.

The company added it plans on buying another 79 BTC across two purchases in “the coming days” to bring its total Bitcoin stack to 100 BTC.

The buys are part of DDC’s plan announced on May 15 to acquire 5,000 BTC over the next three years, with the goal of buying 500 BTC before the end of 2025.

DDC’s planned 5,000 BTC stack, if it held that much today, would land it just outside the top 10 public companies with the largest Bitcoin holdings, putting it just behind Japanese investment firm Metaplanet, which holds 7,800 BTC, according to data from Bitbo. 

DDC Enterprise (DDC) shares closed the May 23 trading session down by 14.5% but rose 2.43% after the bell to $3.79, according to Google Finance. DDC is down over 27% so far this year.

Shares of DDC Enterprise fell more than 14% on May 23, however, the stock recovered after the bell. Source: Google FinanceChina crypto adoption rises

China’s appetite for cryptocurrencies has been ticking upward in the past few months, despite the country’s years-long total ban on crypto transactions.

Chinese electric vehicle retailer Jiuzi Holdings said on May 22 that its board approved a plan to purchase 1,000 BTC over the next year by issuing shares of its company and by directly buying Bitcoin.

Related: Strategy’s Michael Saylor hints at buying the Bitcoin dip

Earlier this month, a report indicated that high-net-worth investors across Asia are moving away from US dollar-based investments to gold, cryptocurrencies, and Chinese-based assets.

Last week, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the Stablecoin Bill, which establishes a clear regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers, with institutions likely to be able to apply for stablecoin issuance licenses by the year’s end.

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps

Nvidia will reportedly launch a new lower-cost artificial intelligence chip specifically for China, following restrictions on exporting its more expensive model.

Nvidia plans to start mass production of the new AI chips in June, which will be part of the firm’s latest generation of AI chips, Reuters reported on May 26, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company plans to sell it for between $6,500 and $8,000 owing to its lower specifications and simple manufacturing requirements — cheaper than the some $10,000 to $12,000 Nvidia’s recently restricted H20 model sold for.

An Nvidia spokesperson told Reuters it was still evaluating the company’s limited options. “Until we settle on a new product design and receive approval from the US government, we are effectively foreclosed from China’s $50 billion data center market,” they said.

China is a massive market for the chipmaker, accounting for 13% of its sales in the past financial year.

In April, the US government informed Nvidia that export licenses were required for its popular H20 chips. The restrictions specifically mentioned China, and the government cited concern over the risk that the technology “may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China.” 

According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, its market share in China has plummeted from 95% before 2022, when US export restrictions first impacted its products, to 50% currently. 

Jensen Huang on Taiwanese TV. Source: Yahoo/TVBS 

“We will continue to make tremendous efforts to optimize compliant products and continue serving the Chinese market,” he said on Taiwanese TV last week.

It is the company’s third attempt to create China-compliant chips, and the new chip is designed to meet current US bandwidth limits of 1.7 terabytes per second. 

Related: Anthropic debuts most powerful AI yet amid ‘whistleblowing’ controversy

Nvidia’s main rival is Shenzhen-based Huawei, which is testing and preparing to ship a new AI chip called the Ascend 910D. 

Nvidia earnings eagerly awaited 

The news comes a couple of days before the firm is due to release its quarterly earnings report, which is due on May 28. 

The chip manufacturer’s stock finished last week down around 3%, breaking a streak of four straight weekly gains.

Analysts on average expect Nvidia to report quarterly revenue of $43.4 billion, 66% higher year-over-year, and adjusted net income of $21.3 billion, according to Investopedia. 

“We see upside … despite the loss of H20 sales to China,” said Oppenheimer analysts. 

Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye

US House Speaker Mike Johnson has brushed off corruption concerns surrounding President Donald Trump’s dinner for the top holders of his memecoin and dodged answering whether the list of attendees should be released in the interest of transparency.

Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on May 25 that he knew nothing about Trump’s May 22 memecoin dinner and opted not to share his opinion on the event, which 35 House Democrats have called for the Justice Department to investigate.

“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,” 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.

“I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t even heard about. I’m not sure who was there or what the purpose was.”

Johnson then claimed Trump was “the most transparent president” in history and “has nothing to hide.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper (left) speaking with House Speaker Mike Johnson (right). Source: CNN

Democrats have called for the list of attendees of Trump’s crypto dinner event to be released, as they suspect Trump may be accepting foreign investments in violation of federal bribery statutes or the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Under the emoluments clause, the US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.

Bloomberg reported on May 7 that a majority of the attendees at the memecoin dinner would likely be foreign nationals.

Trump invited those who were among the top 220 largest holders of the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin to his event at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.

The most notable attendee was the Chinese-born Tron CEO Justin Sun, the largest holder of the TRUMP token and the biggest backer of the Trumps’ crypto platform World Liberty Financial.

Sheldon Xia, the CEO of Cayman Islands-based crypto exchange BitMart, posted pictures to X of himself at the event, while Australian crypto entrepreneur Kain Warwick told The New York Times on May 12 that he would attend the event after stocking up on enough TRUMP to break into the top 25 investors on the leaderboard.

In a separate May 22 press conference, several Democrats called for the release of Trump’s memecoin dinner list.

One of those speaking was Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fierce crypto critic who called Trump’s memecoin dinner an “orgy of corruption.”

Democrats call for Trump to cut crypto ties entirely

Several House Democrats, led by Maxine Waters, introduced the “Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act” on May 22 to prevent Trump and his family from profiting off crypto while in office. 

Trump has used the “power of the presidency to shamelessly promote and profit” from a series of crypto ventures, Waters said in a statement.

Related: Senators plan to amend GENIUS Act to address Trump family’s stablecoin

Waters pointed to the TRUMP memecoin, which she claims has increased Trump’s net worth by over $350 million, as well as his involvement in World Liberty Financial and the platform’s stablecoin, USD1.

An additional 14 US lawmakers supported the bill, including Nydia Velázquez, Brad Sherman and Gregory Meeks.

Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye

US House Speaker Mike Johnson has brushed off corruption concerns surrounding President Donald Trump’s dinner for the top holders of his memecoin and dodged answering whether the list of attendees should be released in the interest of transparency.

Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on May 25 that he knew nothing about Trump’s May 22 memecoin dinner and opted not to share his opinion on the event, which 35 House Democrats have called for the Justice Department to investigate.

“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,” 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.

“I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t even heard about. I’m not sure who was there or what the purpose was.”

Johnson then claimed Trump was “the most transparent president” in history and “has nothing to hide.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper (left) speaking with House Speaker Mike Johnson (right). Source: CNN

Democrats have called for the list of attendees of Trump’s crypto dinner event to be released, as they suspect Trump may be accepting foreign investments in violation of federal bribery statutes or the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Under the emoluments clause, the US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.

Bloomberg reported on May 7 that a majority of the attendees at the memecoin dinner would likely be foreign nationals.

Trump invited those who were among the top 220 largest holders of the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin to his event at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.

The most notable attendee was the Chinese-born Tron CEO Justin Sun, the largest holder of the TRUMP token and the biggest backer of the Trumps’ crypto platform World Liberty Financial.

Sheldon Xia, the CEO of Cayman Islands-based crypto exchange BitMart, posted pictures to X of himself at the event, while Australian crypto entrepreneur Kain Warwick told The New York Times on May 12 that he would attend the event after stocking up on enough TRUMP to break into the top 25 investors on the leaderboard.

In a separate May 22 press conference, several Democrats called for the release of Trump’s memecoin dinner list.

One of those speaking was Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fierce crypto critic who called Trump’s memecoin dinner an “orgy of corruption.”

Democrats call for Trump to cut crypto ties entirely

Several House Democrats, led by Maxine Waters, introduced the “Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act” on May 22 to prevent Trump and his family from profiting off crypto while in office. 

Trump has used the “power of the presidency to shamelessly promote and profit” from a series of crypto ventures, Waters said in a statement.

Related: Senators plan to amend GENIUS Act to address Trump family’s stablecoin

Waters pointed to the TRUMP memecoin, which she claims has increased Trump’s net worth by over $350 million, as well as his involvement in World Liberty Financial and the platform’s stablecoin, USD1.

An additional 14 US lawmakers supported the bill, including Nydia Velázquez, Brad Sherman and Gregory Meeks.

Magazine: AI cures blindness, ‘good’ propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye