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Hongji Feng

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Hongji Feng

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Hongji is a reporter who covers crypto, finance, and tech. He graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s. He has previously interned at HTX,…

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Last updated: 

August 28, 2025

Unusual stock movements ahead of cryptocurrency announcements at several small-cap companies are prompting scrutiny over potential insider trading, according to a Fortune report published on August 28.

The story cites multiple instances where company shares surged in the days before disclosing large crypto purchases. MEI Pharma, for example, saw its stock nearly double prior to revealing a $100 million Litecoin acquisition. No regulatory filings or public statements were issued ahead of the spike.

Experts and Executives Share Concerns

A similar pattern was observed at firms including SharpLink, Mill City Ventures, and Kindly MD.

“It does look suspicious to me,” said Xu Jiang, a finance professor at Duke University. “This usually happens for a lot of insider trading scenarios that I anecdotally know about.”

SharpLink’s shares more than doubled three days before the company announced a $425 million Ethereum allocation. The company said it has “established policies and procedures” to prevent insider trading, but did not provide specifics.

Mill City Ventures, which has since rebranded as SUI Group Holdings, saw its shares triple ahead of news that it raised $450 million to acquire Sui.

“There was definitely activity in the stock prior to the announcement,” said Stephen Mackintosh, an executive involved in the deal.

Executives and investors who receive material non-public information before a crypto deal are subject to insider trading laws, including those briefed during roadshows, said Elisha Kobre, a partner at Sheppard Mullin.

Insider Trading Looms Over Crypto Industry

Some companies are now withholding ticker symbols from investors until markets close, in an attempt to limit price distortion. CEA Industries and Verb Technology have both adopted this approach in recent weeks.

“It’s really to everyone’s advantage to squash this issue,” said Louis Camhi, founder of RLH Capital.

While insider trading rules are well established in traditional finance, the rise of crypto treasury strategies introduces gray areas in enforcement. Unlike mergers or earnings reports, crypto purchases often involve decentralized assets with volatile pricing and informal communication channels, making it harder for regulators to monitor information flows or trace leaks with precision.

At the same time, the expanding trend of treating crypto holdings as strategic balance sheet assets blurs the line between operational decisions and market signaling. Analysts say the mere expectation of price impact tied to a crypto pivot can invite speculative positioning, even in the absence of formal leaks.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

DV8 Public Company Limited, a publicly listed firm in Thailand looking to reinvent itself as a Bitcoin Treasury firm, has appointed Thai business magnate Chatchaval Jiaravanon as its new Chairman, according to a July 11 statement shared with CryptoSlate.

Jiaravanon, best known internationally for acquiring Fortune Magazine in 2018, is part of Thailand’s influential Charoen Pokphand Group family.

DV8’s leadership change

His appointment comes amid a broader leadership revamp at DV8 to align the company with emerging crypto-native financial models.

Under his guidance, the firm plans to adopt Bitcoin-centric treasury practices and invest in DeFi, corporate governance innovation, and next-generation digital infrastructure.

DV8 also revealed ambitions to build a crypto-integrated digital banking system that supports long-term financial inclusion and innovation across Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Jiaravanon will lead an 11-member board comprising key figures from traditional finance and the Web3 ecosystem.

The new board members include Vichate Tantiwanich, Natavudh Pungcharoenpong, John Riggins, Samuel Coyn Mateer, Henry Elder, and Jason Fang. The group combines deep local business knowledge with international experience in crypto asset management and blockchain development.

This leadership overhaul positions DV8 to become a major player in digital asset strategy and crypto-financial infrastructure.

Notably, Jiaravanon brings relevant experience through his blockchain startup Lightnet, which launched in 2020 to use distributed ledger technology to provide low-cost remittance services for underbanked migrant communities in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, the leadership changes follow DV8’s recent acquisition by a strategic consortium that includes several prominent crypto investment groups. The investors include UTXO Management, Sora Ventures, Kliff Capital, Moon Inc., AsiaStrategy, and Mythos Group.

Notably, all the investors involved in the deal have agreed to a 12-month lock-up period. Market observers have described this move as a strong vote of confidence in DV8’s new direction and the broader Thai crypto market.

Fang, founder of Sora Ventures, expressed excitement about Thailand’s potential in the crypto and DeFi space, stating:

“Thailand at one point had the 4th largest DeFi users in the world. It’s a hidden gem, and now we’ll unlock it together.”

Mentioned in this article

Sixteen years after the launch of Bitcoin, stablecoins have emerged as one of the most compelling applications of blockchain technology. Banks are reportedly “panicking” over stablecoins encroaching on their territory, while Fortune 500 companies are beginning to grasp their transformative potential.

Shifting from blockchain to AI, Meta Platforms is quietly assembling a “superintelligence” unit, led by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang. This move follows reports that Mark Zuckerberg’s company acquired Scale in a nearly $15 billion all-cash deal.

In this week’s Crypto Biz, we explore the evolving landscape of stablecoins and the latest high-stakes moves in the crypto and AI sectors.

Fortune 500 companies are paying attention to stablecoins: Coinbase

Interest in stablecoins among Fortune 500 companies has grown sharply over the past year, highlighting the technology’s increasing real-world utility, according to a new survey by Coinbase.

The crypto exchange polled 100 executives from Fortune 500 companies and found that nearly 29% are either using or exploring the use of stablecoins, up from just 8% in 2024. This represents a more than threefold increase in a year.

Executives cited faster financial transactions and lower payment fees as the primary drivers of interest. About 7% of respondents said their companies are already using stablecoins.

Not every company is embracing stablecoins. As Cointelegraph reported, the US banking lobby is particularly concerned about yield-bearing stablecoins disrupting their business. 

Zuckerberg scrambles to keep Meta from falling behind in AI race

Meta Platforms’ struggles in AI prompted CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make a bold move by acquiring a 49% stake in Scale AI, a data-labeling company that supports several AI applications, according to reports from The Information and Bloomberg.

The $14.8 billion deal also brings Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang into Meta. Wang is set to join Meta’s “superintelligence” team, a group of about 50 people focused on pursuing artificial general intelligence.

As Bloomberg reported, Zuckerberg has grown frustrated with Meta’s slow progress in AI, despite plans to nearly double capital expenditures this year, much of which is earmarked for AI infrastructure development.

Nasdaq fintech acquires crypto native protocol Mixie

Nasdaq-listed fintech firm Netcapital has acquired Web3 gaming platform Mixie for an undisclosed sum, potentially marking the first time a publicly traded company has acquired a crypto-native protocol.

The deal was executed through Zelgor, a Netcapital portfolio company, and is expected to enhance Netcapital’s tokenization infrastructure.

Netcapital operates a fully digital capital markets platform that connects private companies seeking to raise capital with investors. A company spokesperson said the acquisition enhances “synergies between Mixie’s tokenization capabilities and Netcapital’s browser-based security offering.”

Netcapital is a nano-cap stock with a total market capitalization of less than $10 million. 

Guggenheim partners with Ripple to expand digital debt offering

Less than a year after launching its commercial paper offering on Ethereum, US investment giant Guggenheim is expanding the product through a new partnership with Ripple.

Through this collaboration, Guggenheim Treasury Services — a subsidiary of Guggenheim — will offer its Treasury-backed fixed-income product on the XRP Ledger. Fully backed by US Treasurys, the product could eventually be available for purchase using RLUSD, Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin.

As part of the agreement, Ripple has invested $10 million into the asset.

Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

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