Malone Lam pleads guilty in a $245M crypto case as Plattsburgh weighs a mining-AI ban and Zcash ETF assets top $500M; today’s BTC price is near $79K in Greed sentiment. Bitcoin briefly fell to $77,666 today before buying support pushed the price back toward $79K. Its overall 24-hour move remained limited, with BTC continuing to trade within the recent $77K to $80K range. Ether held near $2,490 and showed relatively contained volatility as it remained in a similar consolidation phase. Market sentiment also stayed elevated. The latest Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 66, down slightly from 69 yesterday but still within the Greed zone. On the capital flow side, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded USD 46.6464 million in net outflows yesterday. This marked the first daily net outflow after three consecutive sessions of inflows. U.S. spot Ether ETFs also posted USD 24.2921 million in net outflows during the same period, suggesting that short-term institutional inflows have slowed. Looking at a broader timeframe, a composite capital flow indicator covering Bitcoin ETF flows, corporate purchases, and stablecoin issuance showed about USD 6.7 billion in cumulative inflows over the past 30 days. This represents a clear shift from the large net outflows recorded in June. Leverage remains concentrated on both sides of the market. If BTC rises above $82,092, cumulative short liquidation intensity across major trading platforms could reach about USD 1.66 billion. If the price falls to $74,712, cumulative long liquidation intensity could reach about USD 1.503 billion. ETH shows a similar concentration of leveraged positions. A drop below $2,365 could expose about USD 990 million in cumulative long liquidation intensity, while a move above $2,604 could expose around USD 849 million in short liquidation intensity. Outside crypto, U.S. Treasury yields remain elevated. Markets are also waiting for the latest PPI and CPI data as well as the Federal Reserve's September rate decision. This has kept crypto prices closely linked to changing macro and interest rate expectations. Overall, BTC and ETH remain within their recent trading ranges. Softer daily ETF flows and elevated derivatives leverage continue to shape the short-term market structure, while traders remain focused on upcoming macro data.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Singaporean National Malone Lam Pleads Guilty in USD 245 Million Crypto Crime Case

Singaporean national Malone Lam has pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Justice accused him of participating in and organizing an international criminal network involved in more than USD 245 million in cryptocurrency theft and money laundering. Court documents show that the network began operating no later than October 2023 and remained active through at least May 2025. Some members initially connected through online gaming platforms. Prosecutors said the group mainly used social engineering to gain access to victims' account details and digital asset information. Some cases also involved home break-ins designed to obtain information that could be used to control cryptocurrency wallets. Lam was accused of identifying potential victims, organizing attack procedures, and coordinating other participants. One of the most prominent cases involved the theft of more than 4,100 BTC from a victim in Washington, D.C. Attackers allegedly impersonated support staff from major technology and crypto service companies. They persuaded the victim to reset two-factor authentication and use screen-sharing software, which ultimately exposed sensitive information needed to access the digital assets. Prosecutors said the stolen funds were then moved through crypto mixers, layered wallets, trading platforms, and virtual private networks to make the transfers more difficult to trace. The investigation later expanded. In 2025, U.S. prosecutors charged another 12 defendants and increased the total value of crypto thefts linked to the alleged criminal enterprise to more than USD 263 million. Court documents also said members of the group spent stolen funds on private jets, luxury rental properties, watches, designer goods, and multiple exotic cars. Nightclub spending reportedly reached as much as USD 500,000 in a single evening. Lam ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a RICO conspiracy. The court has scheduled a status hearing for December 8, while the Department of Justice has not yet announced a sentencing date.

Plattsburgh, New York Considers Temporary Ban on Crypto Mining and AI Data Centers

The city of Plattsburgh in New York is considering a new temporary land-use moratorium covering high-energy facilities such as cryptocurrency mining, artificial intelligence computing, cloud computing, and large data centers. The proposed 2026 Local Law P-2 states that facilities primarily engaged in these high-density computing activities could fall under the definition of a High Energy Use Facility if their power demand reaches 300 kilowatts or more. If the proposal takes effect, the city would suspend approvals for new construction, expansion, renovation, and reactivation of affected facilities for 12 months. The restrictions would cover building permits, land-use approvals, special-use permits, site-plan approvals, and other municipal development authorizations. Facilities that are already operating legally would generally be allowed to continue. However, they would not be permitted to carry out expansions, capacity increases, or major changes in use that require new government approval during the moratorium. Plattsburgh officials said one reason for the proposal is that existing land-use rules were developed before the rapid growth of AI computing, blockchain validation, and large-scale data centers. The city therefore wants to preserve the current development environment while it carries out a broader update of local zoning rules. The city council is expected to review the potential effects of these facilities on grid capacity, infrastructure, cooling requirements, noise, fire safety, and surrounding land use. Plattsburgh has previously imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency mining. In 2018, the city introduced an 18-month moratorium on Bitcoin mining after residents raised concerns about electricity prices and power demand. The current proposal expands the policy discussion beyond crypto mining to include AI and high-performance computing. This reflects a broader industry trend in which some crypto mining operators have repurposed parts of their infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing workloads. The proposed 12-month moratorium is still under review by local authorities. The Plattsburgh Common Council is expected to hold another regular meeting on September 17.

Bitcoin Recovers Toward $79K as Zcash ETF Assets Surpass USD 500 Million

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $78K on Tuesday and reached $77,666 before recovering most of the decline. The price returned to around $79K during Asian trading hours, leaving its 24-hour move close to flat. While major crypto assets remained range-bound, Zcash emerged as one of the stronger performers and its related ETF saw rapid growth in assets under management. Grayscale said its Zcash ETF, ZCSH, has surpassed USD 500 million in assets under management. The milestone came only about two weeks after the product began trading on August 25. Data showed that ZCSH attracted more than USD 70 million in cumulative inflows after listing. DCG International Investments also contributed about USD 100 million. The fund now holds more than 550,000 ZEC. With approximately 16.9 million ZEC in circulating supply, the ETF holds close to 3% of the total circulating amount. ZEC climbed above $1,180 as the fund expanded. The token gained more than 4% on the day and roughly 43% over the week. Total crypto market capitalization stood near USD 2.8 trillion during the same period. BTC, ETH, and several other large-cap crypto assets showed relatively limited price changes, making ZEC's short-term performance more notable. Bitcoin itself remained within its recent trading range of roughly $77.2K to $82.1K. Its latest rebound has not materially changed that broader range structure. Markets are also watching this week's U.S. inflation data and shifting rate expectations ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for September 15-16. ZCSH's rapid move above USD 500 million in assets has also brought renewed attention to Zcash-related investment products and privacy-focused digital assets.

U.S. Security Agencies Accuse Chinese AI Firms of Large-Scale Distillation of American Frontier Models

The U.S. National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have issued a joint cybersecurity warning. The agencies accused several Chinese artificial intelligence companies of using large-scale knowledge distillation to extract capabilities from U.S. frontier AI models and train their own systems. U.S. officials said the activity dates back to at least late 2024. It involved billions of tokens and millions of model requests, far exceeding the scale typically associated with ordinary model research and testing. Six Chinese AI companies were named, including DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI. U.S. agencies said the companies spread their activity across multiple model providers, cloud platforms, and infrastructure services. The report said the firms may also have used numerous accounts, proxy services, and other technical methods to avoid detection of abnormal traffic or usage-limit triggers on individual platforms. Knowledge distillation itself is a common AI training technique. Developers can use outputs from a more capable model to improve the performance of a smaller system. However, U.S. security agencies described the activity in this case as systematic and industrial-scale capability extraction. Moonshot AI has drawn particular attention because of its Kimi K3 model. The model delivered strong results on several coding benchmarks in July and prompted markets to reassess the technology gap between Chinese AI systems and leading U.S. models. The announcement triggered notable volatility in parts of the Asian AI and technology sector. Z.ai fell about 27% at one point, while MiniMax declined around 16%. Asian semiconductor stocks also came under pressure. The weakness continued into later trading sessions, with South Korea's Kospi falling another 3.5%. Bitcoin and other major crypto assets also weakened alongside technology and other risk assets. The three U.S. agencies included detection methods and mitigation recommendations in their joint advisory. They also called on AI model providers, cloud platforms, and infrastructure companies to strengthen cross-platform monitoring for abnormal usage patterns. The advisory has elevated model capability extraction and AI security into a broader national security issue. It has also renewed attention on the wider technology competition between the United States and China.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.