Report: Rug Pull Incidents in the Crypto Space Have Decreased, but Their Impact Has Grown

Invesco, the asset management giant overseeing over $2.5 trillion in assets, filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday to register the "Invesco Stablecoin Reserve On-Chain Fund". The fund will invest in cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries, with its structure aligned with the reserve requirements for payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act. The application lists institutional tokenization specialist Superstate as the sub-transfer agent, which will maintain a blockchain-integrated shareholder register combining traditional fund records and on-chain ownership tokens. While the fund will operate on a public blockchain, the specific network has not been disclosed in the filing. This move marks the latest sign of traditional asset managers racing to capture the stablecoin reserve management market. As stablecoin issuance continues to expand, demand for reserve asset managers has surged. Citigroup forecasts the stablecoin market could grow from around $300 billion today to $4 trillion by 2030, creating massive potential opportunities for fund managers. BlackRock, State Street, and ProShares have all submitted similar fund applications, intensifying competition. The filing also extends Invesco’s broader tokenization strategy: earlier this year, the firm took over Superstate’s roughly $900 million tokenized Treasury fund, becoming the first third-party asset manager to use Superstate’s blockchain FundOS platform, joining pioneers in tokenized money market funds including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity. An Invesco spokesperson declined to comment on the application, noting the product is still in the registration phase.

According to people familiar with the matter, Payward, the parent company of crypto trading platform Kraken, is in talks with decentralized lending protocol Aave, proposing to exchange 35,000 Ether for 250,000 AAVE tokens plus a 15% ordinary stake in Aave Group. The deal carries an overall valuation of roughly $385 million, with a transaction value of around $71 million. The sources added that Kraken is also seeking co-financing for the transaction. This investment is positioned as the first in a series of deals for Payward’s asset management business, marking Kraken’s shift to a more active role in DeFi and other investment sectors. The sources noted that Payward has robust capital backing, and existing partners are interested in participating in such opportunities. Aave is currently the world’s largest decentralized lending protocol, but in April this year, it was embroiled in one of the most severe crises in DeFi history: hackers exploited a vulnerability in the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge to mint approximately $292 million in uncollateralized rsETH, which was then used as collateral to borrow real assets on Aave, leaving the protocol with bad debts of $190 million to $230 million. Though Aave’s own smart contracts were never compromised, the incident triggered the withdrawal of over $8 billion in deposits, underscoring the cascading risks of interconnectedness in the DeFi ecosystem. Kraken has been on an acquisition spree recently: earlier in April, it announced the acquisition of crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial for up to $550 million, and is reportedly conducting a new round of financing at a $20 billion valuation, actively paving the way for a potential IPO.

Guojin Securities’ research report notes that Micron Technology’s push to finalize long-term supply agreements could sustain the supply-demand gap in the memory chip market. Micron has already signed 16 Strategic Customer Agreements (SCAs) with clients spanning downstream sectors including data centers, consumer electronics, and automotive. The SCA term for automotive clients is three years, while those for other clients are generally five years. These 16 SCAs account for 20% of Micron’s total DRAM shipments and one-third of its NAND shipments. The price floors in Micron’s SCA contracts can generate profitability exceeding the peak levels of previous cycles. Micron projects that DRAM and NAND supply will remain tight through 2027. Guojin Securities believes the memory industry’s supply is likely to stay tight, and Micron is poised to maintain high profitability. Micron’s ongoing long-term agreement signings with downstream clients are expected to reduce cyclical fluctuations in its product shipment prices and mitigate the cyclicality of its financial performance.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams delivered a speech on Thursday, stating clearly that U.S. inflation remains far above the 2% policy target, and significantly pushed back his timeline for inflation to return to target from the previous "next year" to 2028. He also emphasized that the current monetary policy stance is "fully capable" of continuously suppressing price pressures. On the data front, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE Price Index, rose 4.1% year-over-year in May, marking its largest increase since April 2023, far exceeding the 2% target, further reinforcing market expectations of future interest rate hikes. Williams projects inflation will fall to around 3.5% by the end of the year, before gradually converging toward the target. He attributed the current inflationary uptick to three key drivers: higher import tariffs, elevated energy and commodity prices due to the Middle East conflict, and surging demand for certain tech products driven by the AI investment boom. He also warned that AI-related investment could add upward pressure on prices in the short term, and policymakers need to carefully balance between waiting for productivity gains and addressing near-term inflationary pressures. On economic growth and employment, Williams noted the U.S. economy remains resilient, projecting growth of around 2.25% this year and over the next two years, and that the unemployment rate will fall from the current 4.3% to 4% by 2028. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee echoed similar remarks, stating that core inflation "remains too high and is moving in the wrong direction," and that the resurgence of inflation has become the top issue facing the Fed this year. Projections released after last week’s FOMC meeting showed that 9 out of 19 officials expect at least one more rate hike this year, while the Fed’s current target interest rate range remains unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%.

According to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, Samsung Group will announce a 1,000 trillion won (approximately $650 billion) advanced industry investment plan at the Blue House on the 29th. This is the largest investment ever unveiled by a South Korean company, equivalent to half of the country’s GDP. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will host a national briefing at the Blue House on the same day, where CEOs of major local firms will attend to announce their respective advanced industry investment plans for non-metropolitan areas. Samsung’s proposed 1,000 trillion won plan is a blueprint combining investment strategies for its core business units—including semiconductors, AI data centers, secondary batteries, and displays—over the next decade or more. It is reported that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong conveyed the investment plan to President Lee Jae-myung during their meeting at the Blue House on the 25th. Aligned with the government’s policy to build a second semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region, Samsung is considering investing around 300 trillion won to construct a semiconductor plant in the Gwangju-Jeollanam-do area.

According to The New York Times, citing three individuals familiar with internal discussions at OpenAI, the AI firm is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering (IPO) until next year. The company had originally planned to go public as early as the third or fourth quarter of this year, per sources. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has urged financial advisors to find ways to lift the company’s valuation to $1 trillion. However, a series of recent developments have forced OpenAI executives to abandon their initial aggressive plans. The most prominent among these is the post-IPO performance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX this month: SpaceX’s share price has been declining, closing at $153 on Thursday after hitting a high of $202 last week. Global markets have also been volatile in recent weeks, with tech stocks dragging down indexes and investors questioning whether AI companies can deliver on their overhyped promises. Per two sources, OpenAI’s advisors warned the company in communications over the past week that retail investors may not show much enthusiasm for its stock.