POAP shuts down and Coldcard losses near $114 million

POAP, the Proof of Attendance Protocol that issued millions of blockchain-based badges for conferences, hackathons, classes and community gatherings, is set to shut down after more than five years in operation, according to co-founder Isabel Gonzalez. The closure would end one of crypto’s most recognizable experiments in using tokens as records of participation rather than financial instruments.

POAP badges became a familiar feature of Ethereum events and online communities, giving organizers a way to distribute collectible tokens to people who attended a specific event or completed an activity. The protocol was also used in campaigns involving Coinbase, American Express, Warner Music Group and Bayer, bringing the concept beyond the industry’s usual developer and trading circles.

The planned shutdown leaves holders with a digital record whose practical value depended heavily on the network and its surrounding ecosystem remaining active. Unlike tokens backed by a reserve, a revenue claim or a defined governance role, attendance badges generally derived their appeal from community memory, access programs and the ability to verify participation.

Poap’s closure tests the durability of event-token models

The protocol helped establish “proof of attendance” as a crypto-native alternative to paper tickets, membership cards and event certificates. A POAP could be minted for attending a local meetup or a major global conference, creating an on-chain record that organizers could use for rewards, community campaigns or future access.

Its closure illustrates the difficulty of sustaining token projects built around utility that does not produce recurring revenue. Event credentials can be widely distributed and culturally valuable, but they face a different business challenge from payment networks, exchanges or infrastructure providers: the service must maintain technology, storage, user support and distribution tools even when badge holders are not paying to use it.

The end of the project may also complicate long-term archival questions for communities that used POAPs as attendance records. On-chain tokens can remain visible on a blockchain, but the user experience around claiming, viewing and verifying them often relies on applications and services maintained by the original project or third parties.

Coldcart losses approach $114 million in estimates

Separate concerns have emerged around a reported vulnerability involving Coldcard hardware wallets, where estimated losses may be nearing $114 million. The reported figure would place the incident among the largest thefts involving U.S. victims by dollar value, though it would remain outside the 10 largest cryptocurrency thefts if measured against the industry’s biggest historical hacks and exploits.

By the beginning of August, estimates cited in the material put the theft at roughly 1,367 BTC, then worth about $88.6 million. The gap between that estimate and the higher $114 million figure reflects Bitcoin’s market price and the evolving tally of affected funds.

On-chain activity linked to the alleged theft showed a concentrated burst between Bitcoin blocks 960,778 and 960,792. Over roughly two and a half hours, the activity involved 218 transactions, 462 victim addresses, 216 newly created destination addresses and 388.92748828 BTC, according to the supplied blockchain analysis.

The sweep rate reached 13.8 transactions per block in that period, compared with 0.3 in a pre-incident comparison window — about 45 times higher. Such clustering can indicate automated coordination, particularly when many addresses are drained and funds are quickly routed toward fresh destinations.

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, said generative AI tools could identify and reproduce the reported issue at minimal cost. He estimated that GLM 5.2 could reproduce the attack for about $2, while Claude identified the flaw in eight minutes and GLM reproduced it in 20 minutes.

The episode adds pressure on hardware-wallet makers to treat software review, firmware design and supply-chain controls as ongoing security obligations. Offline key storage reduces exposure to some online threats, yet a device’s security ultimately depends on its hardware, code and setup process functioning as intended.

Mastercard completes bvnk acquisition

Mastercard has completed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK, following earlier reports that the deal could be valued at as much as $1.8 billion. Mastercard is targeting stablecoin-based services for cross-border business payments, remittances, settlement and corporate treasury flows.

BVNK provides infrastructure intended to help businesses move and manage value using stablecoins. Its appeal to a global card network lies less in speculative token trading than in the potential to simplify transfers between companies operating across currencies and jurisdictions.

Cross-border corporate payments often involve delays, intermediary banks and reconciliation costs. Stablecoin rails could shorten settlement cycles where businesses can access compliant conversion, custody and payment services. Mastercard’s purchase places that infrastructure within a company already connected to banks, merchants and payment providers worldwide.

The transaction also reflects a divide within digital-asset markets. Consumer-facing token projects can struggle to maintain activity after initial enthusiasm fades, while payment infrastructure is attracting attention from established financial firms seeking faster settlement tools.

Asian regulators tighten pressure on platforms and illicit flows

South Korean exchange Bithumb has set out a three-stage IPO timetable targeting a 2028 listing. The company plans to upgrade internal controls and prepare for Korean International Financial Reporting Standards, or K-IFRS, in 2026, submit for listing pre-review in 2027 and complete the proposed listing in 2028.

The roadmap puts corporate governance and accounting preparation ahead of the intended public offering. For a crypto platform seeking a public listing, those steps would place scrutiny on internal controls, financial reporting and compliance systems well before shares reach the market.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has added BiFinance to its list of suspicious virtual asset trading platforms. The regulator said BiFinance claimed to be licensed in Hong Kong and offered spot trading, futures and digital-asset wealth-management services, despite not holding an SFC licence. The agency said it suspects the platform may be carrying on regulated activity without authorization.

Thailand’s Immigration Bureau has also warned that cross-border amulet trading may be used to launder proceeds associated with online gambling, telecom fraud and drug trafficking. The bureau said suspected methods included false auctions, temple rentals, purported amulet sales and peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transfers designed to make illicit funds appear to be legitimate business income.

Robinhood chain activity cools as tokenworks prepares launch

Decentralized-exchange volume on Robinhood Chain fell 44% from its peak week, according to a post by Adam. The decline points to a sharp cooling in trading activity after the network’s earlier surge.

TokenWorks said outside purchases of Fake World Assets would open at 3 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 4. The company also said it would redirect 50% of protocol fees that had previously gone to TokenWorks toward a buyback mechanism.

Buybacks can support demand for a token by using platform fees to purchase it from the market, but their effectiveness depends on durable network usage and fee generation. A declining trading base would limit the scale of funds available for that mechanism.

Bitcoin rose 0.13% over the past 24 hours in the market data provided, while Ethereum fell 1.21%. Solana slipped 0.04%, BNB gained 0.84%, Cardano rose 1.75% and Uniswap declined 5.71%. The modest moves in major assets came alongside sharper swings among smaller tokens and tokenized stock-linked instruments, underscoring the uneven liquidity across different parts of the market.