blockchain

14 Stories

Polymarket's Biggest Winners Aren't Human
Bots Are Winning
Big on Polymarket
longform
May 10, 2026 4:25 PM CDT

Bots Are Winning Big on Polymarket

Bloomberg reports that automated traders capture most profits as retail traders lag

(Newser) - Those TikToks and Reddit posts pitching prediction markets as an easy side gig? Bloomberg reports the data tells a very different story. In an analysis of Polymarket, one of the biggest event-betting platforms, reporters Carolyn Silverman, Nathaniel Popper, and Marie Patino found that more than 100,000 accounts lost at...

There's New Debate Over ID of Bitcoin's Mystery Creator

Developer Adam Back disputes New York Times investigation identifying him as Satoshi Nakamoto

(Newser) - One of bitcoin's earliest developers says he's not the man behind its most enduring mystery. Adam Back told the BBC he isn't Satoshi Nakamoto , pushing back on a New York Times investigation by John Carreyrou that tried to tie his writings and online activity to the pseudonymous creator of the...

North Korea Hackers Are Shifting to a New Target

They're going after wealthy individual crypto holders, to the tune of $2B-plus so far this year

(Newser) - North Korean hackers have ramped up efforts to steal cryptocurrency, with losses attributed to them reaching more than $2 billion so far this year—a record haul, according to researchers at Elliptic . These thefts account for roughly 13% of the country's estimated GDP, per United Nations figures. While...

Brothers Who Went to MIT Stole $25M in Crypto in 12 Seconds: DOJ

Anton and James Peraire-Bueno hit with charges related to wire fraud, money laundering

(Newser) - Anton and James Peraire-Bueno went from graduating from MIT to facing more than 20 years behind bars. The brothers, one of whom lives in New York and the other in Boston, were arrested Tuesday on federal charges alleging they stole $25 million in cryptocurrency in just 12 seconds in a...

FBI Points Finger at Well-Known Group for Huge Crypto Heist

N. Korea's Lazarus, tied to 2014 Sony Pictures breach, is believed to be behind theft

(Newser) - Update: It's a hack the BBC calls "likely one of the biggest ever to hit the crypto world," and US officials say it looks Lazarus was behind it. That's the hacker group thought to be controlled by North Korea's main intelligence agency and believed to...

'Justice Served' in Crypto Expert's North Korea Case

Virgil Griffith gets 5 years behind bars after presenting at crypto conference in Pyongyang

(Newser) - Update: It's more than five years behind bars for Virgil Griffith, the hacker accused of helping North Korea evade US sanctions with his cryptocurrency tips. NBC News reports the 39-year-old received a 63-month prison sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty last year to conspiracy; he admitted to presenting at...

Online Game Hit by Massive Crypto Heist

'Axie Infinity' says $615M was taken after criminals compromised blockchain bridge

(Newser) - A popular online game says it is "here to stay" despite one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts on record. Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis says hackers drained cryptocurrency worth more than $600 million from the "bridge" that allows Axie Infinity players to exchange other cryptocurrencies for in-game currency or...

Melania Trump's Hat 'Collateral Damage' of Crypto Crash

Former first lady didn't scoop up as many tokens as hoped in auction of hat worn to greet Macron

(Newser) - The crisp white Herve Pierre hat that Melania Trump wore to greet French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife at the White House in April 2018 went up on the auction block this month—along with a watercolor and NFT showing her wearing it—in the hopes that the entire...

Wikipedia Gets Its Own NFT
Wikipedia Gets Its 
Own NFT
Dec 5, 2021 9:30 AM CST

Wikipedia Gets Its Own NFT

First edit being auctioned

(Newser) - Non-fungible tokens couldn't exist without the internet, and the internet would be a very different place without Wikipedia. No surprise, then, that the ubiquitous free encyclopedia is getting the NFT treatment. Per The Verge , Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is placing his first ever edit to the site up for...

Iconic 'Doge' Meme NFT Breaks Record at $4M
'Doge' Meme NFT
Sells for Millions
Jun 12, 2021 1:30 PM CDT

'Doge' Meme NFT Sells for Millions

The original dog's owner will donate some of the proceeds to charity

(Newser) - Taking a picture of your adorable dog and posting it so other people can admire her, too, is usually its own reward. But Atsuko Sato, a kindergarten teacher in Japan, is also getting a record-setting $4 million worth of Ethereum after selling it as an NFT, NBC News reports....

A Cryptocurrency CEO Died at 30, Then Things Got Weirder

QuadrigaCX had hundreds of millions of dollars—or did it?

(Newser) - When Gerald Cotten was in high school, the Ontario teen was known to hustle to get his work done in class so that he could spend any free time getting around the school's firewalls to play online games. If that sounds like the origin story of a future internet...

Video Clip Sells for $660K a Second

Sales of 'non-fungible tokens' are exploding

(Newser) - The blockchain technology behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies is shaking up the art world as well as financial markets. Sales of "non-fungible tokens"—artworks or other pieces of digital property authenticated as unique originals via blockchain—are exploding, with a 10-second artwork by artist Beeple recently selling...

He Co-Founded Apple. Now, a New Venture for 'the Woz'

Steve Wozniak's Efforce, a green tech/blockchain firm, has been in 'stealth mode' for about a year

(Newser) - Steve Wozniak was in his mid-20s when he co-founded Apple in the garage at Steve Jobs' parents' place. He left the company about a decade later, and now, 35 years after that, "the Woz" is feeling the entrepreneurial itch once more. The 70-year-old is launching Efforce, a green tech...

How a Few Files Could Endanger All of Bitcoin

Study suggests child porn-related content in blockchain could make it illegal to possess

(Newser) - For anyone who carefully tracks bitcoin, Tuesday brought the good with the bad. On a positive note, the cryptocurrency's value topped $9,000, up from a weekend low of $7,335, reports CNBC . On a more dour note comes the news that child abuse photos are lurking within its...

14 Stories
Most Read on Newser