Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, the US has sanctioned a North Korea IT worker ring that was targeting US companies, a Japanese CEO will take his salary in Bitcoin as the firm adopts a BTC treasury strategy, and Metaplanet plans to use its Bitcoin reserves to buy cash-generating businesses.US sanctions North Korean IT worker ring over crypto theftsThe US Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned two people, a North Korean and Russian man, along with four entities involved in what it says was a North Korea-run IT worker ring that infiltrates US crypto companies aiming to exploit them.The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) slapped sanctions on the North Korea-based Song Kum Hyok for allegedly stealing US citizens’ information to use as aliases and giving the information to hired foreign IT workers who would seek employment at US companies.OFAC also sanctioned the Russian national Gayk Asatryan for allegedly using his four Russia-based companies to employ dozens of North Korean IT workers. OFAC said North Korea aims to bankroll its missile programs by deploying a thousands-strong workforce of highly skilled IT workers all over the world.“Treasury remains committed to using all available tools to disrupt the Kim regime’s efforts to circumvent sanctions through its digital asset theft, attempted impersonation of Americans, and malicious cyber-attacks,” said Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender.North Korea has been notorious for its high-profile hacks such as the $1.5 billion exploit against crypto exchange Bybit exploit in February, but TRM Labs said the nation is starting to shift to “deception-based revenue generation, including IT worker infiltration.”Japanese company moves to align CEO with Bitcoin strategy, full salary goes to BTCTakashi Tashiro, the new CEO of Tokyo-based energy company Remixpoint, will be paid in Bitcoin as part of stated efforts to be “in the same boat” as shareholders, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.Remixpoint said it will calculate Tashiro's salary and taxes, purchase the equivalent amount in Bitcoin (BTC) and transfer it to a wallet the CEO designates. The move is as part of a “shareholder-oriented management,” the company said.“The remuneration in this case will be paid in Japanese yen in format based on the appropriate organization of the Company Act and taxation,” a translated version of the statement reads.”On top of that, we plan to acquire Bitcoin (BTC) equivalent to the same amount at the market price with Japanese yen, which is equivalent to the full amount of the payment, and deliver it to the crypto asset wallet designated by the President and CEO.”Tashiro took over as CEO in June, saying that Remixpoint would place BTC “at the core of [its] financial strategy” as part of a shift to make the company focused on treasury management.Metaplanet eyes digital bank acquisition in phase 2 of Bitcoin strategyJapanese firm Metaplanet plans to eventually use its Bitcoin reserves to acquire cash-generating businesses, possibly including a digital bank in Japan.In a recent interview with the Financial Times, CEO Simon Gerovich said the company is racing to accumulate as much Bitcoin (BTC) as possible before turning its holdings into leverage for expansion.“We think of it as a Bitcoin gold rush,” Gerovich said. “We need to accumulate as much Bitcoin as we can... to get to a point where we’ve reached escape velocity and it just makes it very difficult for others to catch up.”The Tokyo-listed firm, originally a hotel operator, started accumulating Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation in 2024. It currently holds 15,555 BTC and aims to boost that figure to over 210,000 by 2027, 1% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist.Phase two of Metaplanet’s plan involves using Bitcoin as collateral to access financing, similar to securities or government bonds. “We’ll get cash that we can use to buy profitable businesses,” Gerovich said.Gerovich said Metaplanet’s future acquisitions would ideally align with its strategy, so “maybe it is acquiring a digital bank in Japan and providing digital banking services that are superior to the services that retail now is getting.”