• The US Treasury has sanctioned 10 individuals and one entity linked to North Korean IT worker fraud.
• Two Russian nationals, Ilya Boykov and Vitold Obertas, allegedly converted millions in crypto for North Korea.
• The Treasury also designated a North Korean-run center in Russia, along with eight crypto addresses on Ethereum and Tron.
• The schemes use fake identities to land jobs at legitimate firms and send wages to Pyongyang’s weapons programs.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions on October 28. The action goes after financial intermediaries and workers based in Russia and North Korea who support IT worker operations.

Treasury says Boykov exchanged and converted about $3.5 million in crypto for Alis, a company sanctioned in March 2024 over links to North Korean IT workers. Obertas allegedly handled nearly $2 million in crypto conversions and at least $1.25 million in other currency transactions for North Korean officials since January 2025.

North Korean operatives use stolen identities, forged documents and invented personas to secure remote jobs at legitimate companies. The regime then keeps most of the wages, turning routine software work into state revenue.

The danger goes beyond paying a disguised employee. Treasury says these workers have used corporate network access to plant malware and steal sensitive and proprietary data.

Chainalysis reports that operatives have also used generative AI to write resumes and cover letters and to prepare for technical interviews. In some cases, AI-generated profile photos and deepfake video helped hide their identities during hiring calls.

Chainalysis traced crypto earned by a North Korean IT worker to Boykov, who sent the funds to Garantex, a now-sanctioned Russian exchange, to cash out.

OFAC also designated the First Financial and Technical Development Center, a North Korean-controlled organization operating in Russia. Six workers sanctioned alongside it generated over $750,000 for the group since 2025, according to Treasury. The designation notice lists eight crypto addresses on Ethereum and Tron tied to those sanctioned.

The latest action follows a March sanctions round in which Treasury targeted six people and two companies accused of laundering $800 million in crypto for North Korea.

Together, the moves show US authorities increasingly focusing on the middlemen who turn North Korean earnings into usable cash, rather than only on the workers themselves.

TL;DR: SkyAI says it has sold all its SOL and started a cash tender offer that could cost roughly $201.3 million if fully subscribed.

SkyAI’s experiment as a Solana treasury company has taken a dramatic turn. Rather than simply holding through market volatility, the Nasdaq-listed firm says it has sold its entire SOL position and is offering to buy back as much as 95% of certain outstanding shares and warrants.

An October 19 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission puts the proposed cash purchase price at $3 per share or warrant. If everyone eligible tenders the maximum amount, the purchase would total approximately $201.3 million.

The company disclosed $223.8 million in cash as of October 16 and confirmed that its Solana sales were complete by that point. Consequently, the tender offer is no longer conditional on the price of SOL — a material change from an earlier version of the plan.

The decision is noteworthy because many listed cryptocurrency treasury companies have spent recent months explaining why they intend to keep accumulating tokens. SkyAI is moving in the opposite direction and returning cash to investors through an offer whose terms are defined in its SEC documents.

Shareholders still have choices to make. The tender is scheduled to expire on October 29 unless it is extended or terminated earlier, and the offer remains subject to its stated conditions.

SkyAI’s move is not a verdict on Solana’s technology. It is a reminder that the capital structures wrapped around crypto holdings can change much faster than the networks underneath them.

Written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

TL;DR

• Digital Commodities has bought approximately C$100,000 of SOL, equal to about 5% of its estimated net asset value.
• The Solana purchase was funded by selling part of the company’s physical gold position.
• Bitcoin remains the foundation of its reserve strategy, with the company continuing to hold 11 BTC alongside cash.

A Canadian public company has made an unusual treasury trade: sell some physical gold and put the proceeds into Solana.

Digital Commodities announced on September 28 that it acquired approximately C$100,000 of SOL.

The position represents about 5% of the company’s estimated net asset value.

Bitcoin Stays In The Core Reserve

The Solana purchase does not replace Digital Commodities’ Bitcoin holdings.

The company says its reserve foundation remains anchored by 11 BTC together with cash.

Instead, management has created a second allocation for digital assets it believes could benefit from growth in artificial intelligence and blockchain infrastructure.

Solana is the first asset selected for that new bucket.

What makes the transaction interesting is the source of the money.

Digital Commodities funded the purchase by monetizing part of its physical gold holdings.

Corporate crypto treasuries normally raise cash through equity, debt or existing corporate reserves.

Moving directly from gold into SOL is a much more explicit portfolio allocation decision.

It effectively reduces exposure to one alternative reserve asset to increase exposure to a higher-risk blockchain asset.

Solana Is Being Treated As A Growth Asset

Digital Commodities is drawing a clear distinction between the roles of Bitcoin and Solana.

Bitcoin remains the reserve foundation.

SOL is being treated as a growth-oriented allocation tied to the company’s view that AI-driven economic activity will increasingly require blockchain infrastructure.

That thesis is still speculative.

AI applications do not automatically create demand for Solana, and SOL carries substantially more volatility and network-specific risk than physical gold.

The position is also small.

At roughly C$100,000, this is not a transformation of the company’s balance sheet.

But treasury strategies often become more interesting when the allocation logic changes rather than simply when the number gets bigger.

Digital Commodities is no longer treating digital assets as one undifferentiated category.

It is separating Bitcoin as a reserve asset from another group of tokens intended to capture growth.

The company says it may evaluate additional digital assets under that second tier as market conditions develop.

For now, Solana has the first slot.

And at least part of that position exists because the company decided it would rather own SOL than the gold it sold to pay for it.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

TL;DR

• Strive bought another 1,107 BTC for approximately $94.5 million between September 21 and September 25.
• The company paid an average of $85,396 per Bitcoin.
• Strive now holds 27,462 BTC as it continues expanding one of the largest public-company Bitcoin treasuries.

Strive has added another 1,107 Bitcoin to its corporate treasury, spending approximately $94.5 million during the latest week of accumulation.

The company disclosed the purchases on September 28, saying it paid an average of $85,396 per BTC between September 21 and September 25.

The acquisition pushes Strive’s total holdings to 27,462 BTC.

Preferred Stock Supplied Most Of The Capital

The latest purchase was funded largely through Strive’s SATA preferred stock.

According to the company’s disclosure, roughly 85% of the capital deployed during the week came from SATA-related financing.

Warrant exercises generated another approximately $12.4 million.

That financing structure is becoming as important to the Bitcoin treasury story as the purchases themselves.

Companies following the Strategy model need a repeatable way to raise capital without simply spending operating cash.

Preferred securities give Strive another route.

Investors receive a security with its own income and capital characteristics, while Strive can direct proceeds toward additional Bitcoin.

The company is effectively building a capital-markets engine around BTC accumulation.

Strive Is Closing In On The Largest Corporate Holders

With 27,462 BTC, Strive now sits among the biggest publicly tracked corporate Bitcoin treasuries.

It remains behind several larger holders, but the gap has narrowed quickly as the company has continued raising capital and buying.

The pace also creates a more complicated question for shareholders.

Owning more Bitcoin does not automatically mean each share becomes more valuable.

Investors need to consider how much equity, preferred stock or other financing is issued to fund the purchases and what happens to Bitcoin exposure on a per-share basis.

That is why treasury companies increasingly talk about metrics such as Bitcoin per share rather than simply headline BTC totals.

Strive has made clear that growing its Bitcoin position remains central to the strategy.

The latest purchase is not enormous relative to Strategy’s holdings, but $94.5 million in a single week is meaningful for a company still climbing the treasury rankings.

It also comes as Bitcoin trades around the low-to-mid $80,000 range rather than at a deeply discounted point in the cycle.

Strive is not waiting for a major pullback.

It is continuing to convert capital-market access into Bitcoin while that access remains available.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.