Eric Council Jr., 26, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release on Friday for participating in the hack of the official X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentencing in a press release. Council and other hackers took over the SEC's X account in 2024 to falsely announce that the agency had approved Bitcoin exchange traded funds, or ETFs, which shot up the price of the cryptocurrency before later dropping. According to the DOJ, Council and his co-conspirators performed a SIM swap attack against the cellphone account of a person who had access to the SEC's X account, which allowed the hackers to take control of their phone number. From there, the hackers reset the password of the SEC's X account, granting them control of the account....

' Hey, Linas here! Welcome back to a ' weekly free edition ' of my daily newsletter. Each day, I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it's the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech. The Renaissance Platform: Robinhood's transformation from meme stock enabler to financial services powerhouse ''[unpacking the most important numbers, what they mean, see how the FinTech giant transformed from meme stock enabler to financial services powerhouse & what's next for Robinhood] Block's Inflection Point: margin strength vs. growth concerns in a critical transition year '' [deep dive into their Q1 2025 financials, uncovering the most important numbers, what they mean, and what's next for Block + bonus deep dive into Robinhood & its latest financials] Fifth Third's homegrown AI Chatbot reaches 87% accuracy, now handles 700+ daily calls '' [how their homegrown AI transformed from a COVID-19 emergency solution to a sophisticated customer service tool, what this tells us about the future + bonus deep dive into AI Playbooks, The Ultimate Beginners Guide to AI, and more inside!]...

Good morning & happy Friday! Another amazing FinTech week is about to end, and I couldn't wish for a better issue to finalize it ' Today we're looking into Robinhood whose new blockchain platform will connect European investors to US markets (what's the USP here & why it could be game-changing + a bonus deep dive into Robinhood's latest financials), tech giant Meta, which is now exploring stablecoins for cross-border payments (why it's a perfect use case & what to expect next + a bonus list of 110+ real-world stablecoin use cases), and eToro that's planning a $4 billion IPO next week (FinTech is back, why it matters + a bonus deep dive into eToro's IPO prospectus & more inside!). Let's just jump straight into the fascinating stuff ''...

Good morning & happy Thursday! Today, we're looking into Ripple that could acquire stablecoin giant Circle for as much as $20 billion (what it's all about, why would it make sense, & what this M&A would mean for the industry + bonus deep dive into Circle's IPO, the ultimate list of stablecoin use cases & more resources inside), Revolut, which is now embracing Bitcoin's Lightning Network (what's the USP here & why it matters + bonus deep dive into Revolut's 2024 financials & more), and AvidXchange that is going private in $2.2 billion deal (what does it tell us & what should we expect next). Let's just jump straight into the intriguing stuff '' According to reports from multiple sources, Ripple initially offered between $4-5 billion, which Circle rejected as insufficient. More recent reports suggest Ripple may have increased its offer to as much as $10 billion, though neither company has officially confirmed these figures '...