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Stop pretending technical and human vulnerabilities are separate things

Opinion by: Andrey Sergeenkov, researcher, analyst and writer

Crypto founders love big promises: decentralized finance, banking the unbanked and freedom from intermediaries. Then hacks happen. In some cases, billions vanish overnight. 

On Feb. 21, 2025, the North Korean Lazarus Group stole $1.46 billion from Bybit. They sent phishing emails to staff with cold wallet access. After compromising these accounts, they accessed Bybit’s interface and replaced the multisignature wallet contract with their malicious version. When Bybit attempted a routine transfer, the hackers redirected 499,000 Ether (ETH) to addresses they controlled.

This wasn’t just a human error. This was a design failure. A system that allows human factors to enable a billion-dollar theft isn’t innovative — it’s irresponsible.

People are not protected

In just 10 days, the hackers converted all 499,000 ETH into untraceable funds, using THORChain as their primary channel. The decentralized exchange processed a record $4.66 billion in swaps in a week but implemented no safeguards against suspicious activity.

The crypto industry has created a system that cannot protect users even after they discover a theft. Some services actually profited from this crime, collecting millions in fees while processing the laundering of stolen funds.

Recent: SafeWallet releases Bybit hack post-mortem report

In February 2025, investigators ZachXBT and Tanuki42 revealed that Coinbase users lost over $300 million annually to social engineering attacks. Their report showed $65 million stolen through phishing and other social manipulation techniques in December 2024 and January 2025. According to the investigators, Coinbase failed to address known security vulnerabilities in their API keys and verification systems that make these human-targeted attacks successful. 

ZachXBT directly criticized the exchange for having “useless customer support agents” and failing to properly report theft addresses to blockchain monitoring tools, making stolen funds harder to track. One scammer even admitted to targeting wealthy users, claiming they make at least five figures a week.

These aren’t isolated cases. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that ordinary crypto users lost over $5.6 billion to fraud in 2023, and social engineering drove at least half of these schemes. Americans alone lose approximately $2 billion–$3 billion annually to human vulnerability attacks. With over 600 million crypto users worldwide, conservative estimates put individual losses from social engineering at $6 billion–$15 billion in 2024. 

Barrier to adoption

Security concerns are now recognized as the main barrier to adoption by 37% of crypto users worldwide. Meanwhile, the industry continues to promote high-risk speculative assets like memecoins, where average users typically lose money while insiders profit.

While founders pitch financial freedom, millions of real people lose their savings through vulnerabilities the industry refuses to address. They’re symptoms of a fundamental problem: Crypto builders choose marketing over security.

When disasters happen, and they face pressure about security failures, crypto leaders hide behind blockchain’s “code is law” principle and offer philosophical arguments about self-sovereignty and personal responsibility. The crypto industry loves to blame ordinary users: “Don’t store keys online,” “Check addresses before sending,” “Never open suspicious files.”

Nobody is safe

Even industry leaders themselves fall victim to the same basic attacks. In January 2024, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen lost 283 million XRP (XRP) due to storing private keys in an online password manager. DeFiance Capital founder Arthur_0x lost $1.6 million in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency simply by opening a phishing PDF file. 

These people aren’t naive beginners — they’re creators and experts of the very system that could not protect even them. They know all the security rules, but the human factor is inevitable. If even the system architects lose millions, what chance do ordinary users have?

Knowledge of security rules doesn’t provide complete protection because fever, stress, sleep deprivation or emotional distress severely affect our decision-making abilities. Attackers continuously test different approaches, waiting for moments when users become vulnerable. They evolve their tactics constantly, creating increasingly convincing scenarios, impersonations and urgent situations. 

The unchangeable nature of blockchain transactions demands extraordinary safeguards — not fewer. If users can’t reverse mistakes or thefts, the system must prevent them in the first place. True innovation means building systems that work for real humans, not theoretically perfect users. Banks learned this lesson over centuries. Crypto builders must learn it faster.

Instead, industry leaders seem to have lost touch with reality due to the extreme wealth dumped on them quickly. They’ve bought into their PR narrative, portraying them as geniuses, and started viewing themselves as visionaries.

A call to action

Vitalik Buterin lectures his audience on voting in elections and polishes his manifesto, while Justin Sun spends $6.2 million on a banana for a “unique artistic experience” — all while building an environment that makes dangerous mistakes easy to make. This approach is fundamentally dishonest. You can’t claim to revolutionize finance while providing less security than the systems you’re replacing.

What technical brilliance exists in systems that permit billion-dollar thefts and systematic fraud of ordinary users with such ease? As a core function, true technical excellence would include protecting users from permanent financial loss. A financial system that cannot secure its users’ assets is not technically advanced — it’s fundamentally incomplete.

It’s time to stop writing manifestos and promoting questionable PR stunts designed to attract a broader and more vulnerable audience. Start building genuine protections that match the level of risk your users face. No amount of blockchain innovation matters if ordinary people cannot use these systems without fear of instant, permanent financial loss.

Anything less is just reckless experimentation at users’ expense disguised as a revolution — a scheme that enriches founders and insiders while ordinary people bear all the risks.

If the industry doesn’t solve this problem, regulators will — and you won’t like their solutions. Your philosophical arguments about self-sovereignty won’t matter when licenses are revoked and operations shut down.

This is the choice crypto builders face: Either create truly secure systems that justify your claims about financial innovation or watch as regulators transform your “revolutionary technology” into another heavily regulated financial service. The clock is ticking.

Opinion by: Andrey Sergeenkov, researcher, analyst and writer.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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Sir Keir Starmer says US-UK trade talks ‘well advanced’ and rejects ‘knee-jerk’ response to Donald Trump tariffs

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Sir Keir Starmer says US-UK trade talks 'well advanced' and rejects 'knee-jerk' response to Donald Trump tariffs

Sir Keir Starmer has said US-UK trade talks are “well advanced” ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed by Donald Trump on the UK this week – but rejected a “knee-jerk” response.

Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister said the UK is “working hard on an economic deal” with the US and said “rapid progress” has been made on it ahead of tariffs expected to be imposed on Wednesday.

But, he admitted: “Look, the likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that, nobody wants a trade war.

“But I have to act in the national interest and that means all options have to remain on the table.”

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Sir Keir added: “We are discussing economic deals. We’re well advanced.

“These would normally take months or years, and in a matter of weeks, we’ve got well advanced in those discussions, so I think that a calm approach, a collected approach, not a knee-jerk approach, is what’s needed in the best interests of our country.”

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Keir Starmer

Downing Street said on Monday the UK is expecting to be hit by new US tariffs on Wednesday – branded “liberation day” by the US president – as a deal to exempt British goods would not be reached in time.

A 25% levy on car and car parts had already been announced but the new tariffs are expected to cover all exports to the US.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, earlier told Sky News he is “hopeful” the tariffs can be reversed soon.

But he warned: “The longer we don’t have a potential resolution, the more we will have to consider our own position in relation to [tariffs], precluding retaliatory tariffs.”

He added the government was taking a “calm-headed” approach in the hope a deal can be agreed but said it is only “reasonable” retaliatory tariffs are an option, echoing Sir Keir’s sentiments over the weekend.

Read more:
Why a figure of 48% is important as Trump tariffs near
Starmer and Trump discuss US-UK ‘prosperity’ deal

Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. Pic: Reuters

Tariff announcement on Wednesday

Mr Trump has been threatening tariffs – import taxes – on countries with the biggest trade imbalances with the US.

However, over the weekend, he suggested the tariffs would hit all countries, but did not name them or reveal which industries would be targeted.

Read more: How Trump’s tariffs could affect the UK

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‘Everything on table over US tariffs’

Mr Trump will unveil his tariff plan on Wednesday afternoon at the first Rose Garden news conference of his second term, the White House press secretary said.

“Wednesday, it will be Liberation Day in America, as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it,” Karoline Leavitt said.

“The president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades. He’s doing this in the best interest of the American worker.”

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Trump’s tariffs: What can we expect?

Tariffs would cut UK economy by 1%

UK government forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said a 20 percentage point increase in tariffs on UK goods and services would cut the size of the British economy by 1% and force tax rises this autumn.

Global markets remained flat or down on Monday in anticipation of the tariffs, with the FTSE 100 stock exchange trading about 1.3% lower on Monday, closing with a 0.9% loss.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% after a volatile day which saw it down as much as 1.7% in the morning.

However, the FTSE 100 is expected to open about 0.4% higher on Tuesday, while Asian markets also steadied, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 broadly unchanged after a 4% slump yesterday.

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Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

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Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

Blockchain Association CEO will move to Solana advocacy group

Kristin Smith, CEO of the US-based Blockchain Association, will be leaving the cryptocurrency advocacy group for the recently launched Solana Policy Institute.

In an April 1 notice, the Blockchain Association (BA) said Smith would be stepping down from her role as CEO on May 16. According to the association, the soon-to-be former CEO will become president of the Solana Policy Institute on May 19.

The association’s notice did not provide an apparent reason for the move to the Solana advocacy organization nor say who would lead the group after Smith’s departure. Cointelegraph reached out to the Blockchain Association for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Cryptocurrencies, United States, Solana, Policy

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith’s April 1 announcement. Source: LinkedIn

Smith, who has worked at the BA since 2018 and was deputy chief of staff for former Montana Representative Denny Rehberg, will follow DeFi Education Fund CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine, leaving his position to join the Solana Policy Institute as CEO. According to Whitehouse-Levine, the organization plans to educate US policymakers on Solana.

Related: Congress on track for stablecoin, market structure bills by August: Blockchain Association

With members from the crypto industry, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Chainlink Labs, the BA has filed a lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service, challenging regulations requiring brokers to report crypto transactions. The group often criticized the US Securities and Exchange Commission under former chair Gary Gensler for its “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto, resulting in steep legal fees for many companies.

Less than 48 hours after the Solana Policy Institute’s launch, it’s unclear what the group’s immediate goals may be for engaging with US lawmakers and advocating for the industry. The organization described itself as a non-partisan nonprofit group.

Magazine: Solana ‘will be a trillion-dollar asset’: Mert Mumtaz, X Hall of Flame

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Payouts for departing civil servants capped at £95,000 under voluntary exit scheme

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Payouts for departing civil servants capped at £95,000 under voluntary exit scheme

The most senior and long-serving civil servants could be offered a maximum of £95,000 to quit their jobs as part of a government efficiency drive.

Sky News reported last week that several government departments had started voluntary exit schemes for staff in a bid to make savings, including the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office.

The Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government have yet to start schemes but it is expected they will, with the former already set to lose staff following the abolition of NHS England that was announced earlier this month.

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Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, confirmed in last week’s spring statement that the government was setting aside £150m to fund the voluntary exit schemes, which differ from voluntary redundancy in that they offer departments more flexibility around the terms offered to departing staff.

Ms Reeves said the funding would enable departments to reduce staffing numbers over the next two years, creating “significant savings” on staff employment costs.

A maximum limit for departing staff is usually set at one month per year of service capped at 21 months of pay or £95,000.

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Whitehall sources stressed the figure was “very much the maximum that could be offered” given that the average civil service salary is just over £30,000 per year.

Whitehall departments will need to bid for the money provided at the spring statement and match the £150m from their own budgets, bringing the total funding to £300m.

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Spring statement 2025 key takeaways

The Cabinet Office is understood to be targeting 400 employees in a scheme that was announced last year and will continue to run over this year.

A spokesman said each application to the scheme would be examined on a case-by-case basis to ensure “we retain critical skills and experience”.

It is up to each government department to decide how they operate their scheme.

The voluntary exit schemes form part of the government’s ambition to reduce bureaucracy and make the state more efficient amid a gloomy economic backdrop.

Ahead of the spring statement, Ms Reeves announced plans to cut civil service running costs by 15% by 2030, which ministers have said will save £2.2bn.

Read more from Sky News:
Sentencing guidelines for ethnic minority suspects delayed
Major incident declared as ‘17,000 tonnes’ of rubbish piles up

The move could result in 10,000 civil service jobs being axed after numbers ballooned during the pandemic.

Ms Reeves hopes the cuts, which she said will be to “back office jobs” rather than frontline services, but civil service unions have raised concerns that government departments will inevitably lose skilled and experienced staff.

The cuts form part of a wider government agenda to streamline the civil service and the size of the British state, which Sir Keir Starmer criticised as “weaker than it has ever been”.

During the same speech, he announced that NHS England, the administrative body that runs the NHS, would also be scrapped to eliminate duplication and cut costs.

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