Crypto

U.S. court seizes $8.37 million in crypto from ransomware negotiator accused of aiding hackers

A U.S. court has seized $8.37 million in cryptocurrency from ransomware negotiator Angelo Martino (안젤로 마르티노), accusing him of betraying clients and helping hackers press ransom demands. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered forfeiture of a portfolio including bitcoin, monero, XRP, stellar lumens and a small amount of SOL. Authorities also targeted two luxury homes in Florida, vehicles and a motorboat. Martino was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison.

Crypto

Ripple joins Linux Foundation AI payments project to expand XRP and RLUSD

Ripple has joined the Linux Foundation’s newly launched x402 Foundation as a premier member to help develop an open payments standard for AI agents, applications and APIs. Ripple said it has integrated x402 support into the XRP Ledger, enabling AI agents to pay service fees automatically using XRP and RLUSD. More than 40 companies and institutions, including AWS, Google, Visa and Coinbase, are participating.