Cryptodigest June 22: Polymarket in the hot seat, Secret Network hacked for $4.7 million, and Japanese pension fund enters crypto
The cryptocurrency market is moving sideways on Saturday. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $63,889, showing a low of $63,221 and a high of $64,712 over the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) is also showing no clear trend, hovering near $1,731. Among the top 10 by market cap, the best daily performer is Tron (+0.51%), while Solana (+3.49%) leads for the week. The laggards are Hyperliquid (-5.97% for the day) and Dogecoin (-6.64% for the week). In the top 100, SKYAI (+9.15%) and Aerodrome Finance (+34.93%) stand out, while Humanity (-10.51%) and Audiera (-68.18%) suffer the biggest losses.
Polymarket Accused of Fabricating Bets to Attract Users
The prediction market platform Polymarket is at the center of a major scandal. An investigation revealed that the company paid dozens of bloggers to film fake bets and winnings on counterfeit copies of its website. Of the 1,105 videos reviewed, none of the demonstrated bets totaling approximately $1.9 million were real. In one video, a student showed a "win" of $100,000, although in reality, that bet was lost by over 50 users.
For the filming, Polymarket created fake websites, including those with visually similar URLs. Bloggers were paid $2,000–3,000 per month on the condition that they not disclose the collaboration. Notably, the campaign targeted Americans, even though the platform has been banned for users in the US since 2022. This is the second scandal in a month: earlier, it was revealed that the marketing director paid for undisclosed advertising through personal PayPal. Polymarket has promised to audit its promotional content. In my opinion, such practices undermine trust in the prediction market industry and could attract regulatory attention.
Secret Network Bridge Hacked for $4.67 Million
The crypto community was shaken by news of a hack on the Secret Network cross-chain bridge. The attacker exploited a vulnerability in a smart contract that did not verify the source of incoming transfers, creating 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 The stolen assets were converted to ether, distributed across approximately 30 wallets, and withdrawn to exchanges. This hack is one of the largest in a series of June attacks, the number of which has exceeded 22. The incident once again highlights the critical importance of smart contract auditing and cross-chain bridge security.
Japanese Pension Fund to Allocate 1% of Assets to Cryptocurrency
The National Corporate Pension Fund from Okayama (Japan), serving about 1,200 small and medium-sized enterprises with assets of approximately ¥21.3 billion ($130 million), plans to allocate about 1% of its funds to purchase cryptocurrency in the 2026 fiscal year. According to Nikkei, the fund will invest in a passive fund managed by a major hedge fund that holds several crypto assets. This move is seen as part of a diversification strategy: currently, 80% of the fund's assets are in yen, and 15% in dollars. The decision by the Japanese fund is a significant signal for the entire market, demonstrating the growing interest of institutional investors in digital assets, even in a conservative jurisdiction.
Expert Opinion: The events of this day—from scandals to institutional investments—underscore the dual nature of the crypto market, where issues of trust and security coexist with growing recognition from traditional capital. Investors should remain vigilant but not lose sight of long-term trends.