Whale Mishap: A whale user's multi-signature wallet was hacked due to a private key leak, resulting in a loss of $23.7 million

On Thursday, December 18, a London judge sentenced Canadian national Jarett Dunn to six years in prison, per a Decrypt report. Dunn had previously pleaded guilty to two charges: abusing his position to commit fraud and transferring criminal proceeds. The court noted the former Pump.fun employee had been under electronic monitoring for 308 days, with 154 days credited toward his sentence. He also spent roughly five months in pre-trial detention, which typically automatically reduces his final term. More than a year has passed since Dunn moved roughly $2 million worth of Solana (SOL) from his then-employer Pump.fun.

On December 18, Onchain Lens monitoring data indicates a newly created wallet address received 30,075 ETH from FalconX—valued at roughly $88.31 million—and is likely linked to Bitmine.

December 18th, per The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Danh C. Vo—founder and CEO of Bitcoin mining firm VBit—with embezzling $48.5 million, some of which he used for gambling and gifting to family members. The SEC says Vo and VBit Technologies Corp. collectively raised over $95.6 million from roughly 6,400 investors. Related charges are laid out in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The regulator noted Vo made false statements to investors about VBit’s Bitcoin mining operations and how investment funds would be used. Vo also told investors VBit would offer an “all-in-one solution” for everyday people, letting them earn passive income via Bitcoin mining without the hassle of managing mining rigs themselves.

December 18th — Per HTX market data, Bitcoin briefly fell below $88,000 and is currently trading at $88,081, with its 24-hour gain narrowing to 0.8%.

On December 18, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the digital euro is nearing a pivotal moment and has now become a top priority for the ECB’s Governing Council and the European Parliament, according to FX168.

December 18 — White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stated the Federal Reserve still has substantial room to cut interest rates and needs greater transparency. (Xinhua News Agency)