Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, the industry found itself tied to some of the biggest headlines this week. 

Crypto exchanges were forced to cancel tokenized SpaceX IPO offerings after failing to secure enough allocations. Sam Bankman-Fried lost his appeal against his fraud conviction and scammers moved quickly to prey on football fans with crypto-themed schemes tied to the World Cup. 

Major crypto exchanges cancel SpaceX IPO allocations, promising refunds

Crypto trading platforms Bybit, Binance, Bitget Wallet and MEXC canceled their tokenized SpaceX IPO campaigns as SpaceX went public on the Nasdaq on Friday.  

SpaceX’s IPO, which was reported as more than four times oversubscribed, raised $75 billion as it became a publicly traded company. SpaceX shares opened for trading at $150 on Friday, up from its IPO price of $135. It closed the day at $161.11, valuing the company at over $2 trillion.  

SpaceX trading on Nasdaq on Friday. Source: TradingView

However, major crypto platforms offering tokenized access to the IPO were unable to fulfill demand for SpaceX allocations, with several blaming Kraken-owned xStocks’ inability to deliver the underlying assets.  

The failed campaigns marked a setback for crypto platforms seeking to give their users high-demand public offerings for the first time. 

“It’s disappointing that this didn’t work out in the end. We are in the process of sending out the refunds,” Bitget Wallet chief operating officer Alvin Kan said on X. 

“Yes, we have hit a setback, and trust in the industry has taken a blow, but we’ll come out of this stronger,” he added. 

Sam Bankman-Fried loses appeal

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried failed to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence after a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected his bid for relief.

The panel described the government's case as "conservatively stated, robust," with Circuit Judge Barrington Parker writing that Bankman-Fried reassured customers their funds were safe while simultaneously using FTX "as his own personal piggy bank" to finance real estate purchases, political contributions and investments.

The ruling comes as Bankman-Fried pursues a separate bid for clemency. He recently confirmed he is "absolutely" seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, though the president told The New York Times in January that he had no plans to grant one. A White House spokesperson also declined to comment on the request, referring Bloomberg to Trump's earlier remarks.

Trump has nevertheless granted high-profile pardons before, including one for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was serving two life sentences plus 40 years before receiving a presidential pardon in January 2025.

Source: Toby Cunningham

Crypto scammers exploit World Cup ticket demand, TRM warns

TRM Labs warned that crypto scammers are targeting World Cup fans through fake ticketing sites, fixed-match betting schemes and event-themed crypto promotions.

The blockchain intelligence company said it identified several World Cup-related scam operations, including two fake-ticketing sites and one fixed-match betting pitch tied to four crypto addresses.

“Criminals always look to exploit major events and cultural moments and they don’t wait until kickoff,” Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, told Cointelegraph. “Scammers build and position their infrastructure weeks in advance, then scale it the moment public attention peaks.”

Impact propagation of the World Cup 2026. Source: FIFA

The 2026 World Cup opened on Thursday, with FIFA expecting attendance of about 6.5 million fans throughout the tournament and about $40.9 billion in global gross domestic product impact, creating a large pool of ticketing, travel and betting demand for scammers to target.

That concentration of demand has already drawn warnings from authorities. In May, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said threat actors were spoofing FIFA websites ahead of the tournament to collect personal information, sell fake tickets and products and potentially carry out other malicious activity.