AI Crypto Tokens Take South Korea by Storm, Overtaking Ripple XRP

Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies extended losses after Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang resigned. Bitcoin fell below $72,000, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped to $1,990. Nvidia (NVDA) appointed Colette Kress as interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones as chairman. Nvidia's stock dropped 5.8%. AI-related tokens also declined sharply.

North Korean hackers laundered $430,000 in stolen NEAR tokens through six fake tokens on the NEAR blockchain, according to Elliptic. The operation involved creating tokens, exchanging stolen assets, and selling them back into liquidity pools. The FBI linked the theft to North Korea's TraderTraitor operation. Elliptic advised monitoring assets entering liquidity pools for suspicious activity.

North Korean hackers allegedly laundered $6.3B from Binance using meme coins on Tron, Solana, and Near, according to Elliptic. The FBI attributed the hack to state-sponsored group Tradertraitor, while North Korea denied involvement. Stolen funds were converted into bitcoin and ether, with some routed through Tornado Cash.

NEAR Protocol's governance body, House of Stake, approved a proposal to reduce the annual NEAR token issuance cap from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months. The change, backed by 99.96% of voting power, aims to slow supply dilution. However, it requires further review and a 90-day grace period before implementation. The reduction is projected to decrease staking yields and may impact smaller validators.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) dropped 8.50% to $3.67 after House of Stake voters approved a proposal to reduce its maximum annual issuance target from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months. The vote requires further review and ratification. NEAR's decline was steeper than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

NEAR Protocol's token (NEAR) dropped 9.2% after holders approved a plan to reduce its maximum annual issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6% over two years. The proposal, HSP-029, passed with 99.9% support and is expected to remove nearly 11.8 million NEAR from circulation. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) also fell 5.8% and 7.8%, respectively, over the same period.