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Today's Top Crypto Headlines:
Crypto Torture Case | Ledger Phishing Scam | $1.25B BTC Long | Polygon Founder Quits and more...
King Fatrick Gil Añasco
May 26, 2025
Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!
Glad to have you back for another edition of the UseTheBitcoin.com newsletter.
Crypto Torture in NYC: Manhattan investor John Woeltz was charged with kidnapping and torturing an Italian man to extract Bitcoin passwords.
Ledger QR Code Scam: Scammers impersonating Ledger are mailing fake letters urging users to scan a QR code, which leads to phishing sites aimed at stealing crypto assets.
Trader Bets $1.25B on BTC: James Wynn placed a 40x leveraged Bitcoin long worth $1.25B on Hyperliquid.
💡Feature of the Day - Polygon Co-Founder Exits: Mihailo Bjelic resigned from Polygon’s board and operational role, citing divergent visions.
All this and more in today’s headlines!
📰 News Highlights:
A Manhattan crypto investor, John Woeltz, has been charged with kidnapping and torturing a 28-year-old Italian man to obtain Bitcoin wallet passwords.
🇺🇸CRYPTO INVESTOR TURNED TORTURE KINGPIN IN NYC HORROR PAD
A Kentucky crypto bro allegedly turned a $40K/month SoHo rental into a full-blown torture chamber to extort millions from an Italian tourist.
Police say John Woeltz bound the man for 2 weeks, electrocuted him,
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal)
10:00 AM • May 24, 2025
Held captive in a $30,000/month Soho townhouse, the victim alleges weeks of severe abuse—including electric shocks, being cut with a saw, and threats to his family.
He eventually escaped and alerted authorities, leading to Woeltz's arrest and charges including kidnapping for ransom.
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Scammers posing as Ledger have launched a phishing attack using physical letters sent via USPS, urging users to "validate" their wallets using a QR code.
Phishing attempt through the US Post Office.
— Mike Belshe (@mikebelshe)
4:33 PM • May 23, 2025
BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and other executives confirmed the threat, warning that the QR code likely leads to a malicious site designed to steal private keys and crypto assets.
Phishing attempt through the US Post Office.
— Mike Belshe (@mikebelshe)
4:33 PM • May 23, 2025
Coinbase was also targeted in May, with leaked customer data used in a $20M ransom attempt.
I am a long time investor in and champion of @coinbase. Something that has to be said though - this hack - which includes home addresses and account balances - will lead to people dying. It probably has already. The human cost, denominated in misery, is much larger than the $400m
— Michael Arrington 🏴☠️ (@arrington)
10:05 PM • May 19, 2025
Though no private keys were compromised, critics like TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington warned that such failures may lead to real-world danger for affected users.
High-risk trader James Wynn has gone all-in with a 40x leveraged Bitcoin long totaling $1.25B on the Hyperliquid platform.
Top trader @JamesWynnReal closed all his long positions on $PEPE for a total profit of $25.19M.
He's now gone all-in on $BTC longs, with a position of 11,588 $BTC($1.25B) and a liquidation price of $105,180.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain)
9:56 AM • May 24, 2025
He entered an 11,588 BTC position after closing other positions, including a profitable $PEPE trade and a loss on Ether and Sui.
Built different.
— James Wynn 🐳 (@JamesWynnReal)
10:55 AM • May 24, 2025
Wynn’s activity shows extreme volatility, with $400M in intraday profits and quick reinvestment following Bitcoin price movements.
To all the fans and haters:
We had a good run gambling on perps
At peak the account was up $87,000,000 profits from like $3-$4m.
Now decided to leave the casino with my $25,000,000 profit
It’s been fun, but now it’s time for me to walk away a wynner
Wynn 1-0 Haters— James Wynn 🐳 (@JamesWynnReal)
1:33 AM • May 26, 2025
However, the position took a $29M hit after Trump announced a 50% tariff on EU imports, sparking a market-wide dip. Despite the losses, Wynn remains $25M up overall.
💡 Feature of the Day:
Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic has stepped down from his operational role and the board of Polygon Foundation, citing evolving visions and his inability to contribute at the same level.
PSA: After much thought and reflection, I’ve decided to step down from the board of the Polygon Foundation, and wind down my day-to-day involvement with Polygon Labs.
I was introduced to crypto in 2013 (damn, time flies). By 2017, I was deep down the rabbit hole, fascinated by
— Mihailo Bjelic (@MihailoBjelic)
4:40 PM • May 23, 2025
His exit marks the third founding figure to step away in two years, following Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun.
It’s hard to put into words what you mean to me and to Polygon. More than a co-founder, you’re a brother. From the earliest days — whiteboards full of ideas, endless whitepapers, governance frameworks, strategy calls deep into the night — you have been a force behind so much of
— Sandeep | Polygon (※,※) (@sandeepnailwal)
4:53 PM • May 23, 2025
The community reacted with praise and gratitude for Bjelic’s legacy, while speculating on his future endeavors in crypto.
Can’t wait to see what you do next! You are truly a world class leader and builder.
Thank you for being one of the first people to take a big chance on SheFi. You + Polygon were a catalyst to our success.
Best of luck! Hope to see you soon!
— maggie.shefi.eth (@maggielove_)
5:30 PM • May 23, 2025
😂 Crypto Meme of the Day:
Meme of the day provided by @bluethunder1985
And that’s it for this today.
See you all tomorrow’s edition!
Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com