[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | South Korea’s National Tax Service Begins Preparations for Virtual Asset Taxation Set to Start in 2027

US Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Total Daily Net Outflow of $89.6754 Million

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a total net outflow of $89.6754 million on April 28 (US Eastern Time), according to PANews, citing SoSoValue data.

The largest net outflow came from BlackRock’s IBIT, which saw $112 million leave the fund. In contrast, ARKB, managed by ARK Invest and 21Shares, posted the largest inflow of the day with $41.2021 million in net inflows.

As of the time of reporting, the total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at $100.39 billion, accounting for 6.56% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization. Cumulative net inflows totaled $58.211 billion.

The outflows highlight increasingly mixed fund flow trends across ETF products in recent sessions.

US Spot Ethereum ETFs Record Daily Net Outflow of $21.8019 Million

US spot Ethereum ETFs posted a net outflow of $21.8019 million in a single day, with BlackRock’s ETHA recording the largest outflow.

On April 29, PANews reported, citing SoSoValue data, that spot Ethereum ETFs saw total net outflows of $21.8019 million on April 28 (US Eastern Time).

The largest net outflow came from BlackRock’s ETHA. ETHA saw daily net outflows of $13.1697 million, bringing its cumulative net outflow to $55.642 million.

Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) also recorded net outflows of $6.9149 million. ETHE’s cumulative net outflow reached $5.254 billion.

As of the time of reporting, the total net asset value of spot Ethereum ETFs was $13.571 billion. This represented 4.9% of Ethereum’s market capitalization, while cumulative net inflows stood at $12.026 billion.

South Korea’s National Tax Service Begins Preparations for Virtual Asset Taxation Set to Start in 2027

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has begun advance preparations for the implementation of virtual asset taxation. With taxes on income from the transfer and lending of virtual assets set to take effect on January 1, 2027, the agency plans to begin collecting exchange data and overhauling its tax systems starting in January next year, according to a report by Edaily on April 29.

According to the report, Park Jeong-yeol, head of the NTS Individual Taxation Bureau, said during a briefing that preparations are underway to ensure smooth comprehensive income tax filing in May 2028.

Under the current Income Tax Act, income from the transfer and lending of virtual assets will be classified as miscellaneous income starting in 2027. A 22% tax rate will apply to annual gains exceeding KRW 2.5 million, consisting of 20% miscellaneous income tax and 2% local income tax.

The NTS plans to officially collect relevant data from domestic exchanges including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax to establish taxation standards, while also improving calculation rules and integration with the Hometax filing platform. A comprehensive virtual asset analysis system is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

However, controversy surrounding the taxation plan continues. Political circles have previously raised concerns over insufficient taxation standards and the possibility of capital outflows to overseas markets.

Canadian Federal Government Pushes to Ban Crypto ATMs to Block Fraud and Illicit Fund Transfers

The Canadian federal government is moving to ban crypto ATMs in an effort to prevent fraud and illegal fund transfers, according to Odaily.

In its spring economic update report released this Tuesday, the Canadian government described crypto ATMs as a major tool used by scammers to extract funds from victims and by criminal organizations to move illicit money.

Earlier, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said crypto ATMs had become a key channel used by fraudsters in Canada to obtain victims’ funds. Authorities pointed to problems including ease of access without a bank account, the lack of in-person screening, and the speed and difficulty of tracing transactions.

Canada currently has around 4,000 crypto ATMs installed, the highest number per capita in the world. The government said purchases of virtual assets through registered cash-based money services businesses will remain allowed, but controls to block illegal activity will be strengthened.

Countries including the UK, New Zealand, and Australia have also previously introduced restrictions or bans on crypto ATMs.

US Department of Justice Sentences French Citizen to 8 Years for Laundering More Than $470 Million

The US Department of Justice announced that French citizen Maximilien de Hoop Cartier has been sentenced to eight years in prison for laundering more than $470 million through shell companies and cryptocurrency accounts.

According to panewslab.com, Cartier operated an unlicensed over-the-counter crypto exchange from 2018 and managed a network of shell companies in the United States. He falsely described the business to banks as software publishing and development, when in reality he was cashing out cryptocurrency and sending funds through the US to criminal organizations in Colombia and elsewhere, investigators found.

Cartier admitted to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and making false statements to banks. After accounts were frozen in 2021, he also submitted false documents to federal investigators claiming that he was applying for money transmission licenses and succeeded in recovering part of the seized funds, according to authorities.

The court also ordered forfeiture of about $2.36 million in fees and shell company accounts linked to the operation. The ruling is seen as part of a broader trend of intensified US enforcement against illegal crypto money laundering.

Syndicate Suffers Approximately $330,000 in Losses in Commons Cross-Chain Bridge Attack

CertiK reported that Syndicate was attacked via the Commons cross-chain bridge, resulting in losses of about $330,000.

According to PANews, the attacker obtained about 18.5 million SYND tokens, sold them, and pocketed approximately $330,000, which was then transferred into Ethereum.

The incident is seen as another example highlighting the security vulnerabilities of cross-chain bridges.

SlowMist Reports QNT Reserve Pool Loses About 54.93 ETH Due to Exploited EIP-7702 Account Vulnerability

SlowMist reported that a malicious transaction exploiting an EIP-7702 account vulnerability resulted in losses of about 54.93 ETH from a QNT reserve pool.

According to the source, 1,988.5 QNT was drained from the reserve pool. The issue stemmed from an externally owned account (EOA) with reserve pool administrator privileges delegating code to a BatchExecutor contract via the EIP-7702 mechanism.

The BatchExecutor then designated a BatchCall contract with no permission restrictions as an approved caller, and because the BatchCall.batch() function was fully open to external calls, it created an arbitrary call vulnerability. The attacker used this flaw to drain QNT tokens from the reserve pool.

The case demonstrates how insufficient call permission checks in account delegation structures using EIP-7702 can lead to fund theft.

PyShield: Unverified Contract Approval Leads to Roughly $1 Million Loss in Alchemix Yearn yvVault Position

PyShield reported that a user suffered losses of about $1 million from an Alchemix Yearn yvVault (yvWETH) position due to a previously approved unverified contract.

According to panewslab.com, the contract, beginning with address 0x143a, was created 10 days ago and was found to include a vulnerability allowing arbitrary function execution. The incident shows that interacting with unverified contracts that still retain prior approval permissions can lead to asset losses.

JPMorgan Appoints Former Goldman Sachs Executive Oliver Harris to Lead Blockchain Unit Kinexys

JPMorgan Chase has appointed former Goldman Sachs executive Oliver Harris to lead its blockchain unit Kinexys, according to PANews citing Bloomberg on April 29.

Harris will focus on commercializing Kinexys applications and strengthening partnerships with institutional clients.

He previously served as CEO of Arda Global and managing director of Goldman Sachs’ digital assets business in the Americas. At JPMorgan, he had earlier spent six years leading development of the Quorum blockchain platform.

Kinexys’ blockchain payments network was launched in 2019 and processed $5 billion in daily transaction volume as of last December.

JPMorgan has also been offering institutional clients its deposit token, JPM Coin, since last November, supporting fund transfers over the Base blockchain.

Aptos Launches ‘Confidential APT,’ a Privacy Token Pegged 1:1 to APT

Aptos has launched ‘Confidential APT,’ a privacy token pegged 1:1 to APT. It is designed using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to conceal balances and transaction amounts while still allowing transaction verification.

According to PANews on April 29, the feature had previously passed a governance proposal by an almost unanimous vote. Aptos Labs founding engineer Sherry Xiao said the token can help reduce exposure of corporate cash flows and trading strategies, while also mitigating issues related to salary transparency, user profiling, and fraud targeting.

Confidential APT also supports compliance requirements such as KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) through audit keys for use in investigations or subpoena situations. Activating audit keys requires on-chain governance approval, and only relevant parties can view transaction amounts.

Unlike Monero, addresses and the transaction verification process remain publicly visible, which Aptos presented as a key differentiator.