Meta tests prediction-market app, DOJ moves to seize $1.2 billion from Binance hack, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! Bitcoin fell below $69,000 as Nvidia-related turmoil added to market jitters over the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook.

In today's newsletter, Meta tests a prediction-market app with employees, the DOJ moves to seize $1.2 billion from the Binance hack, two dormant bitcoin addresses move 100 BTC after more than 16 years, and more.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid overtakes Bybit, Kraken and OKX in open interest, and MEGA cuts 20% of its workforce.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Latent, our sister website covering AI. Get The Latent Daily here and all other The Block newsletters here. Also, follow The Block and The Latent on X for more updates.

Meta tests prediction-market app using points instead of cash: WSJ

Meta has begun testing a prediction-market app with employees, allowing them to wager points on the outcomes of events rather than real money, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The app, currently called Takes, uses "cred" points, short for credibility. Users earn points for correct predictions and lose them for incorrect ones. The project was first reported in June under the name Arena, when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed employees to develop a standalone prediction-market app. The app is not publicly available, and it remains unclear whether Meta will release it. The testing comes as Kalshi and Polymarket face state lawsuits over their event contracts.

DOJ moves to seize $1.2 billion from Binance hack, disrupts North Korean deepfake scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice obtained court approval to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion stolen from Binance and disrupted a separate North Korean crypto theft scheme.

The Binance funds are part of more than $2.7 billion frozen through efforts by U.S. authorities and private companies, with investigators continuing to trace stolen assets. The DOJ attributed the Binance hack to North Korean military hackers known as TraderTraitor, who stole more than $6 billion from the exchange in October. Separately, the DOJ seized cloud infrastructure used in a scheme the FBI calls FaceStealer, which has resulted in more than $400 million in crypto theft over 18 months.