Key events in the crypto market: Secret Network hack of $4.7 million, Polymarket scandal, and Japanese pension fund enters crypto — overview for June 22
The morning of June 22 brought a number of significant events that shape the current digital asset agenda. The market shows mixed dynamics amid new security incidents and institutional movements.
Market Dynamics: Sideways Trend for Leaders
Bitcoin (BTC) started the day in a sideways trend. As of 07:30 MSK, the asset is trading near the $63,889 mark, with a daily range of $63,221–$64,712. Ethereum (ETH) is also consolidating at the $1,731 level.
Among the top 10 by market cap, Tron shows the best daily performance (+0.51%), while Solana remains the weekly leader (+3.49%). The largest drop in 24 hours was recorded by Hyperliquid (-5.97%), and over the week, by Dogecoin (-6.64%).
Among the top 100, SKYAI (+9.15% daily) and Aerodrome Finance (+34.93% weekly) stand out. The worst results are for Humanity (-10.51%) and Audiera (-68.18% over seven days).
Polymarket Under Fire: Fake Bets and Fake Websites
The prediction market platform Polymarket has found itself at the center of a scandal. It turned out that the company paid dozens of bloggers to create content with fake bets and winnings on copies of its website. Of the 1,105 videos reviewed, none of the shown bets totaling about $1.9 million were real. In one video, a student demonstrated a "win" of $100,000, although in reality, this bet was lost by more than 50 users.
For the filming, Polymarket created fake websites, including some with similar address spellings. Bloggers were paid $2,000–3,000 per month on the condition that they not disclose the collaboration. Notably, the company has been banned from working with users from the US since 2022, but was specifically targeting an American audience. This is the second scandal in a month: earlier, it was reported that the marketing director paid for unlabeled advertising through personal PayPal. Polymarket has promised to conduct an audit of its promotional content.
Secret Network Bridge Hack: Infinite Minting Vulnerability
The Secret Network bridge suffered a $4.67 million attack through a vulnerability in a smart contract that did not verify the source of incoming transfers. The attacker created unbacked wrapped tokens: saUSDT, saUSDC, saWETH, saWBTC, and others.
The attack occurred on June 10 but was only discovered a week later—after a transaction failed due to insufficient funds in a depleted account. The stolen assets were converted to ether and distributed across approximately 30 wallets, then withdrawn to exchanges. This hack is one of the largest in a series of June attacks, the number of which has exceeded 22.
Japanese Pension Fund Enters Cryptocurrencies
The National Corporate Pension Fund from Okayama, with assets of approximately 21.3 billion yen ($130 million), plans to allocate about 1% of its funds to purchase cryptocurrencies in the 2026 fiscal year. The funds will be invested in a passive fund managed by a major hedge fund that already holds several crypto assets. The move is presented as part of a diversification strategy: currently, 80% of the fund's assets are in yen, and 15% in dollars.
Cryptalist Analyst Comment: The incidents with Polymarket and Secret Network remind us of the systemic risks associated with insufficient smart contract auditing and marketing manipulations. However, the entry of a Japanese pension fund is a powerful signal for the market: institutions continue to view cryptocurrencies as a legitimate asset class for long-term diversification. This could become a catalyst for new capital inflows in the coming years.