ESMA Flags Crypto Risk to TradFi; US Restrains $52M in Xinbi Scam Funds

Europe's top securities regulator has raised fresh alarms over crypto's deepening ties to traditional finance. In a risk monitoring report published Thursday, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) warned that growing links between tokenized equities, DeFi exploits, and legacy markets could amplify financial spillovers across the broader economy. The regulator also flagged prediction markets as an emerging risk, citing heightened concerns over insider trading and market manipulation that crypto-based platforms make harder to detect.

In memecoin news, Hunter Biden has denied profiting from the LAPTOP token after it shed more than 95% of its value within its first hour of trading on Wednesday. The Base-based memecoin, named after the laptop Biden reportedly left at a repair shop in 2019, dropped to $0.8562 at press time, according to CoinGecko data. Biden said on X that no team tokens had been sold and blamed the price collapse on thin liquidity and sniper bots that front-ran the launch.

Meanwhile, US authorities have restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency tied to Xinbi Guarantee, a marketplace accused of serving scam vendors operating primarily out of China. The action targets a network that investigators say facilitated money laundering for pig-butchering operations targeting victims in the US and abroad. Market analysts cite the case as part of a broader enforcement push into illicit on-ramps and offshore financial infrastructure that still move billions in digital assets each year.