Home Blog Page 10

US Treasury targets Huione workaround as FinCEN moves against H-Pay in crypto scam crackdown

By
moneyvests
-
0
US Treasury targets Huione workaround as FinCEN moves against H-Pay in crypto scam crackdown


The U.S. Treasury Department has expanded its crackdown on a Southeast Asia-based fraud network. It sanctioned dozens of individuals and entities while proposing new restrictions against H-Pay, a payment firm regulators say emerged from the remnants of the notorious Huione Group.

In a coordinated action announced on 23 June, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC] sanctioned nine individuals. Also, it sanctioned 26 entities linked to the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization [TCO]. 

The group is a Cambodia-based network accused of operating scam compounds and laundering proceeds from cybercrime and crypto investment fraud. 

At the same time, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [FinCEN] proposed amending its existing restrictions on Huione Group. The amendment will explicitly include H-Pay Service PLC and any future successor entities.

The move signals that U.S. regulators are increasingly focused on what they view as attempts by sanctioned or restricted firms to continue operating under new names.

FinCEN says H-Pay replaced Huione Pay

According to FinCEN’s 34-page proposal, H-Pay effectively assumed the business role previously occupied by Huione Pay. It did this after Huione Pay lost its Cambodian payment services license and faced growing international scrutiny.

The agency argues that H-Pay inherited Huione Pay’s branches, customer base, branding elements, and operational footprint. FinCEN also cited reports showing H-Pay signage replacing Huione Pay branding at multiple locations following regulatory actions against the company.

As a result, FinCEN is seeking to amend its October 2025 rule that barred U.S. financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts for Huione Group. The amendment would ensure that H-Pay and any future successor entities are covered by the same restrictions.

FinCEN said the proposal is necessary to prevent Huione-linked operations from circumventing measures already imposed against the group.

Crypto scams remain at the center of the crackdown

Treasury officials said scam centers across Southeast Asia continue to target Americans through online fraud schemes, many of which rely on digital assets.

According to Treasury, Americans lost at least $10bn to Southeast Asia-based scam operations in 2024, a 66% increase from the previous year.

Many of those schemes involve so-called crypto investment scams. Fraudsters build trust with victims through online relationships before directing them to fake investment platforms that ultimately steal deposited funds.

Treasury said Huione Group served as a key node for laundering proceeds from cyber heists and virtual currency investment scams. Authorities allege the Prince Group also used the network to transfer and consolidate scam-derived assets.

Treasury widens pressure on Prince Group network

Beyond the proposed H-Pay restrictions, OFAC’s latest action targets senior figures, investors, and companies allegedly tied to the Prince Group criminal enterprise.

Treasury said the sanctions build on previous actions taken against the group in October 2025 and are part of a broader effort to disrupt overseas fraud operations targeting U.S. victims.

The action was coordinated with several international partners and accompanied by separate law enforcement efforts targeting infrastructure allegedly used to facilitate the scams.

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the administration would continue using every available tool to dismantle overseas criminal enterprises responsible for large-scale fraud against Americans.

Final Summary

  • Treasury sanctioned 35 targets linked to the Prince Group while FinCEN moved to expand restrictions to H-Pay.
  • Regulators argue H-Pay emerged from Huione’s operation

 



Source link

BNY sees ‘FOMO’ driving asset managers into tokenized funds

By
moneyvests
-
0
BNY sees 'FOMO' driving asset managers into tokenized funds

But Slavin said firms appear reluctant to wait. “Even though the regulations and the rails aren’t fully ready yet, they want to get products out,” he said.

Wall Street believes that blockchain networks could eventually become a new distribution channel for traditional investment products. Tokenized funds could allow investors to hold and transfer fund shares around the clock, potentially reducing settlement times and expanding access to global investors.

One concern emerging for fund issuers, according to Slavin, is that tokenized versions of well-known ETFs are already trading on platforms outside traditional financial markets, often without direct involvement from the fund sponsors themselves.

“There are ETFs, like hundreds of them, that are trading in unregulated markets around the world,” he said.

Because anyone can theoretically create a tokenized representation of a publicly traded fund, issuers face the prospect of products bearing their names circulating beyond their oversight.

“It’s opaque,” he said. “It effectively creates a reputation risk, even though it’s not at all affiliated, frankly, with the asset manager.”

That dynamic has become a growing topic of discussion among BNY’s asset-management clients as they evaluate their own tokenization strategies. Similar to the early days of bitcoin and crypto trading, the technology is evolving faster than the rules governing it.



Source link

Retailer Approaching Historically Bullish Trendline

By
moneyvests
-
0
Retailer Approaching Historically Bullish Trendline


Urban Outfitters (NYSE:URBN) shares are modestly lower, last seen down 0.7% to trade at $72.23 as they extend a pullback from multi-month highs. The recent price action has the stock nearing a historically bullish trendline, however. 

According to Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, URBN is trading within 0.75 times the 50-day moving average’s 20-day average true range (ATR), after spending at least 80% of the previous two weeks and 80% of the prior 42 trading sessions above that trendline.

This setup has appeared 15 times over the last decade, after which the stock was higher one month later 73% of the time, averaging an impressive 5% gain. A comparable rally from current levels would place the retailer at $75.84.

URBN0623

Furthermore, the 7.14 million shares sold short make up 12.62% of URBN’s available float, and it would take short sellers five days to buy back their bearish bets at the stock’s average pace of trading.

It’s also worth noting the stock’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 3 out of 100. This means the shares have consistently realized lower volatility than options traders have priced in over the past 12 months. In other words, URBN looks to be an attractive premium-selling candidate. 



Source link

New Ethlabs initiative launches as Ethereum Foundation cuts 20% of staff

By
moneyvests
-
0
New Ethlabs initiative launches as Ethereum Foundation cuts 20% of staff


A new Ethereum-focused research and development organization has launched, backed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, Bitmine, SharpLink, and more than 50 prominent contributors across the ecosystem. 

This comes as the Ethereum Foundation completes a major organizational overhaul and workforce reduction.

Called Ethlabs, the non-profit R&D lab says its mission is to help make Ethereum “the settlement layer of the global economy” through protocol research, infrastructure development, and adoption-focused initiatives.

The launch was one day before the Ethereum Foundation announced a sweeping restructuring that includes the departure of roughly 20% of its workforce. EF says it’s part of a broader effort to focus resources on core strategic priorities.

Ethlabs positions itself as independent Ethereum R&D hub

In its launch announcement, Ethlabs described itself as an independent organization focused on bridging protocol development with real-world adoption.

The group said it plans to work with users, applications, wallets, Layer 2 networks, infrastructure providers, institutions, ETH holders, core developers, and researchers, translating ecosystem needs into protocol improvements, shared standards, infrastructure, and products.

The initiative has attracted support from a broad cross-section of the Ethereum ecosystem. Backers and contributors include representatives from Uniswap, Base, Optimism, Eigen Labs, Flashbots, Polygon, Coinbase, Nethermind, ENS, L2Beat, and several members of the Ethereum Foundation.

Ethlabs describes this approach as a “multi-node future,” arguing that Ethereum’s long-term success depends on a distributed network of organizations.

Ethereum Foundation announces major restructuring

The announcement arrives amid one of the most significant organizational changes in the Ethereum Foundation’s history.

On June 23, the Foundation unveiled a new operating structure. It is built around dedicated Protocol, Access, User, Community, and Institutional layers, alongside Operations and Management functions.

The Foundation said the restructuring concludes a months-long review of its mandate, treasury management, and organizational priorities. As part of the process, 54 employees will leave the organization.

The largest group within the new structure remains the Protocol Layer.

Ethereum development becomes increasingly distributed

While Ethlabs and the Ethereum Foundation are separate organizations, the timing of the two announcements highlights a broader shift in how Ethereum development is organized.

For years, the Foundation served as the primary hub for much of Ethereum’s research and coordination. The emergence of independent organizations backed by major ecosystem participants suggests a growing distribution of responsibility across multiple institutions.

That trend mirrors Ethereum’s broader philosophy of decentralization, extending it beyond the protocol itself and into the ecosystem’s development and governance structures.

Final Summary

  • Ethlabs has launched with support from Joseph Lubin, Bitmine, SharpLink, and dozens of Ethereum ecosystem contributors.
  • The announcement comes as the Ethereum Foundation restructures its operations and cuts approximately 20% of its workforce.

 



Source link

Ethereum (ETH) news: Foundation cuts 20% of staff amid leadership exodus

By
moneyvests
-
0
Why the Ethereum Foundation is suddenly again at the center of crypto’s culture war

The Ethereum Foundation is cutting roughly 20% of its workforce, eliminating 54 positions as part of a broad restructuring that comes amid sustained senior leadership turnover and growing fragmentation across the wider Ethereum ecosystem.

The layoffs, announced Tuesday in a blog post, conclude a months-long internal reorganization tied to the implementation of the Foundation’s updated mandate and treasury policy. The EF said the reduction leaves it “leaner and more focused,” with a structure aligned around what it described as the “critical tasks” needed to support Ethereum’s long-term development.

The reduction follows a period of significant upheaval at the organization’s leadership level. Co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down earlier this month, following the prior departure of co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak. Board member Bastian Aue has since assumed expanded responsibilities overseeing the transition and day-to-day operations.

In total, roughly nine senior figures have left or transitioned out of the Ethereum Foundation over the past six months, fueling scrutiny of the organization’s governance model and performance as Ethereum faces intensifying competition from rival blockchain ecosystems.

While the EF shrinks, a separate ecosystem effort backed by some of Ethereum’s largest corporate holders is expanding.



Source link

Adobe Stock Poised for 35% Rebound Despite Recent Selloff

By
moneyvests
-
0
Adobe Stock Poised for 35% Rebound Despite Recent Selloff


Quick Read

  • ADBE has fallen 44% in a year, but 24/7 Wall St. rates it a BUY with a $264 price target implying 35% upside.

  • Adobe’s AI-first ARR tripled to $500M+, while partnerships with Microsoft and Anthropic reposition it as agentic AI infrastructure.

  • At just 8x forward earnings, ADBE prices in AI disruption the financials don’t yet show, with even the bear case implying 21% upside.

  • Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Adobe didn’t make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Few large-cap software names have fallen as far, as fast, as Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) over the past year. The stock has gone from a creative-software bellwether to a value puzzle, with the market pricing in AI disruption while management keeps raising guidance. That gap is where our model sees opportunity.

David Tran / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Adobe trades at $194.90 as of June 22, 2026. Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Adobe is $264.05 over the next 12 months, implying 35.48% upside. Our recommendation is buy, with confidence of 90%.

24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary

A Year of Pain Meets a Beat-and-Raise Quarter

ADBE has fallen 44.31% year to date and 48.29% over the past year, with shares trading 28% below the 52-week high of $392.58 and just above the $190.12 low.

Yet the fundamentals remain intact. Q2 FY2026 delivered record revenue of $6.62 billion, up 13% year over year, with non-GAAP EPS of $5.96 marking the fifth consecutive beat. AI-first ARR tripled to exceed $500 million, and management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to $26.50B–$26.60B.

The selling pressure comes from elsewhere. Citi cut its price target to $228 from $264 on June 20, citing a roughly $500 million implied reduction to organic ARR as Adobe pivots toward freemium acquisition. Sector-wide AI subscription fears, the CFO transition (Dan Durn departed June 15, 2026), and CEO succession have compounded the de-rating.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Adobe didn’t make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

The Case for $328 and Above

Bulls point to AI monetization that is accelerating, not stalling. AI-first ARR moved from a $250M target in Q3 FY2025 to $500M+ by Q2 FY2026. The CX Enterprise Coworker launch and Cannes Lions partnerships with Accenture, Omnicom, WPP, Anthropic, and Microsoft reposition Adobe as agentic infrastructure rather than disruption target.

Operating cash flow hit $2.17 billion in Q2, funding $2.111 billion in buybacks. Our bull case price target is $328.58, a 68.59% return. The Reddit thesis put it bluntly: “Wall Street thinks AI is coming for Adobe’s lunch. I think Adobe already put it behind a paywall and called it dinner.”

What Could Go Wrong

The bear case is real. Freedom Broker downgraded ADBE to Hold from Buy, calling Adobe’s growth “acquired rather than organic” and pointing to a “show-me phase.” Generative AI competitors (Figma, Canva, OpenAI) threaten the creative workflow moat, and the 132 recent insider transactions have skewed net selling.

Q2 GAAP EPS of $4.25 reflected a $70M goodwill impairment and $30M litigation accrual, although those are non-recurring items and non-GAAP EPS still beat. Our bear case target is $235.93, still a 21.05% return from here.

Adobe Price Prediction 2026-2030

At an implied forward P/E near 8x, ADBE is pricing in significant AI disruption that the numbers do not yet show. Our 24/7 Wall St. price target of $264.05 implies 35.48% upside, with 90% confidence and a buy call.

The Q2 beat-and-raise tips the scale. The setup looks constructive if Q3 ARR growth holds at the guided trajectory. The thesis weakens if Adobe walks back its FY2026 ARR growth target of 10.2% on the next earnings report.

These projections assume Adobe continues converting AI-first ARR into durable subscription revenue. Significant upside or downside could result from regulatory resolution on Semrush, new leadership execution, or a faster-than-expected shift in creative software economics.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Adobe didn’t make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.



Source link

Global Tech Selloff Weighs On Markets—Here’s Why Nvidia, Tesla And More Are Down

By
moneyvests
-
0
Global Tech Selloff Weighs On Markets—Here’s Why Nvidia, Tesla And More Are Down


Topline

Some of the largest chip and memory stocks fueled a selloff across global markets, as analysts pointed to “anxiety” ahead of Micron’s earnings amid investors pricing in a steeper path for interest rates.

Key Facts

Nvidia headlined broader losses across the Nasdaq in premarket trading on Tuesday, sliding 2.8% as the index dropped 2.8%, followed by Intel (7.3%), AMD (7.2%), Broadcom (3.9%), Tesla (2.7%) and Alphabet (1.9%).

Both the Stoxx 600 and Germany’s DAX index dropped about 1% in Europe, with semiconductor Infineon (down 5.5%) weighing down the Frankfurt-based stock market.

In South Korea, the Kospi index plunged 10% as shares of Samsung and SK Hynix—the country’s two largest companies by market capitalization, respectively—plummeted more than 12% each.

JPMorgan analysts wrote Tuesday that a selloff may have been sparked by “anxiety” before Micron—whose shares fell more than 9% in premarket—reports earnings on Wednesday, as the memory chip maker is seen as a barometer for AI demand.

WedBush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote there was “some added nervousness on the important memory chip trade” ahead of Micron’s earnings, noting the global stock market was experiencing a “gut check moment” as the AI-backed tech trade “remains in the third inning.”

Traders are now also pricing in interest rates increasing by 50 basis points by December, potentially rising to between 4% and 4.25%, after earlier projections of just one 25-basis-point hike last week, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

what to watch for

Whether SpaceX’s losing streak persists on Tuesday. Shares of Elon Musk’s rocket maker stumbled another 2.6% in early trading after plunging by more than 16.4% on Monday, as a three-day decline for the stock all but wiped out its post-IPO gains. Another selloff for SpaceX could lower its shares below the debut trading price of $150, and Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told Reuters the company’s decision to open bond trading may have revived concerns that tech companies may be spending too much on AI infrastructure.

key background

Investors appear to have grown increasingly worried that memory chip supply could outpace demand amid a surge in spending for AI infrastructure. Chip makers like Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix have ramped up production to meet the soaring demand from AI data centers. The global market has also been weighed down by rising oil prices during the war in Iran, which has driven up consumer prices and inflation in the U.S. to a three-year high.

further reading

ForbesFed Holds Interest Rates Unchanged In Kevin Warsh’s First Meeting—But Higher Rates Are ExpectedBy Ty Roush



Source link

1...91011...202Page 10 of 202