The Block - 2026-06-21
3 items collected.
1. Polymarket paid creators to stage fake winning bets on dummy sites: WSJ
Author: Zack Abrams
Published: 6/21/2026, 10:42:56 PM
Categories: Crypto Ecosystems, DeFi, polymarket
The Journal reviewed more than 1,100 videos and found none of the roughly $1.9 million in bets shown in influencer-produced hype videos were real.
2. Fentanyl-linked Chinese network tied to crypto fraud from Japan involving fake ‘Zksync.jp’ token: Nikkei
Author: Zack Abrams
Published: 6/21/2026, 8:06:58 PM
Categories: Legal, Policy, Anti-Money Laundering, china, Crime, japan, nikkei
The linked criminal group allegedly distributed a scam token under the name "zksync.jp" to deceive crypto users worldwide, with losses of over $1 million.
3. Notorious ‘jaredfromsubway’ MEV bot drained for roughly $7.5 million in counter-MEV honeypot
Author: Zack Abrams
Published: 6/21/2026, 3:00:57 PM
Categories: Crypto Ecosystems, Layer 1s, Security, Ethereum, Exploits, jaredfromsubway.eth
An X account using the bot's name claimed a $15 million loss and offered a $1 million bounty, but evidence shows it is a likely impersonator.