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  • Tether Freezes $344 Million in USDT Stablecoins Flagged for Illicit Activity

    Tether Freezes $344 Million in USDT Stablecoins Flagged for Illicit Activity

    In brief

    • Tether froze $344 million in USDT across two Tron blockchain addresses after U.S. authorities flagged them.
    • The freeze was coordinated with the Office of Foreign Assets Control and law enforcement agencies.
    • One wallet contained approximately $213 million, the other roughly $131 million in frozen tokens.

    Tether froze more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses Thursday in coordination with U.S. authorities, marking one of the stablecoin issuer’s largest compliance actions on record.

    While Tether did not name the network of the frozen funds, blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the blacklisted addresses as TNiq9…QZH81 and TTiDL…pjSr9, holding approximately $213 million and $131 million respectively. Decrypt asked Tether if it can confirm the addresses identified on Tron, but did not immediately receive a response.

    The freeze action followed information allegedly linked to sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity, per Tether’s statement. The stablecoin issuer’s compliance team worked with the Office of Foreign Assets Control and other U.S. law enforcement agencies to implement the USDT wallet restrictions.

    “USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in a statement. “When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively. Recent events have shown what happens when platforms fail to move quickly, enforcement breaks down, users are exposed, and trust erodes.”

    “Our approach is different,” he continued. “We combine blockchain transparency with real-time monitoring and direct coordination with law enforcement to stop funds before they can move. That’s a responsibility we take seriously as one of the largest issuers in the market.”

    The freeze underscores Tether’s expanding compliance infrastructure, which now encompasses partnerships with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries. The stablecoin issuer said it has supported over 2,300 cases globally and frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets overall—including $2.1 billion tied specifically to U.S. authorities.

    Thursday’s action follows a pattern of large-scale Tether freezes coordinated with U.S. authorities. In November 2023, the company froze about $225 million in USDT linked to a Southeast Asia human-trafficking and pig butchering scam investigation. In January 2026, Tether froze roughly $182 million across five Tron wallets in another action.

    These freezes typically involve the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury Department agency that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. The increasing frequency and scale of such actions reflect both the growing use of stablecoins in illicit finance and Tether’s efforts to maintain regulatory compliance.

    Tether’s latest action follows a pair of high-profile crypto project hacks that have been linked by investigators to North Korean hackers: the $285 million Drift Protocol attack, and $292 million Kelp DAO exploit. 

    USDC stablecoin issuer Circle faced criticism following the Drift Protocol hack for not taking action to freeze funds linked to the attack. The firm defended its inaction, saying that it can only freeze funds when identified by law enforcement or required through court orders.

    “When Circle freezes USDC, it is not because we have decided, unilaterally or arbitrarily, that someone’s assets should be taken from them. It is because the law requires us to act,” said Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte, in a blog post.

    A class action lawsuit has since been filed against Circle in relation to the Drift Protocol funds. Drift said last week that it would dump USDC in favor of USDT, as part of a Tether-backed recovery plan that will provide $148 million in funding to help make users whole.

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  • Meta Laying Off 8,000 Employees, 10% of Workforce, Amid Surge in Spending on AI

    Meta Laying Off 8,000 Employees, 10% of Workforce, Amid Surge in Spending on AI

    Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, is laying off about 8,000 employees — and eliminating another 6,000 open jobs — as it is in the midst of a companywide shift to artificial intelligence.

    The job cuts were announced in an internal memo to Meta staffers from the company’s head of HR, Janelle Gale, who said the headcount reductions were aimed at improving efficiency and would let Meta “offset the other investments.” The company will enact the layoffs on May 20, per the memo.

    “We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making,” Gale said in the memo, as first reported by Bloomberg. “This is not an easy tradeoff and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.”

    Reached by Variety, a Meta rep confirmed the layoffs but declined to provide additional comment.

    As of the end of 2025, Meta reported a global workforce of 78,865 employees, located at offices in more than 90 cities worldwide.

    Earlier this year, Meta said it expects to capital spending in 2026 to be $115 billion to $135 billion, with driven by increased investment to support the Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core business. That’s up substantially over $72.2 billion in 2025. 

    Meta is scheduled to report first quarter 2026 financial results after market close on Wednesday, April 29.

    For Q4 2025, the internet giant reported revenue of $59.89 billion (up 24%) and net income of $22.77 billion (up 9%) — both quarterly records. Meta said it expects first quarter 2026 revenue to be $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion, above Wall Street’s previous estimates.

    The layoffs at Meta come three years after its last major workforce reductions. In March 2023, the company laid off 10,000 employees, coming four months after it pink-slipped 11,000 workers.

  • LISTEN: Tina Knowles on Dressing Destiny’s Child in the Early Days; Ashley Graham on Fighting for Plus Size Women and Starring in ‘Chicago’

    LISTEN: Tina Knowles on Dressing Destiny’s Child in the Early Days; Ashley Graham on Fighting for Plus Size Women and Starring in ‘Chicago’

    On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, entrepreneurs Tina Knowles and Ashley Graham explain how they have blazed trails to build powerful media and retail brands in highlights from a day’s worth of conversations held at Variety’s annual Entertainment Marketing Summit.

    The daylong event held in Beverly Hills featured sessions with the industry’s top marketers, brand managers, creators, talent representatives, ad sales executives and media buyers. Videos for all sessions can be found here.

    Listen to today’s “Daily Variety” podcast here:

    Knowles, in a conversation with Angelique Jackson, Variety‘s senior entertainment writer, recalled her early days of dressing Destiny’s Child, the musical trio that launched her daughter Beyoncé to global stardom.

    “I was doing everything out of necessity. It wasn’t because and I didn’t know I was producing, I didn’t know I was creative director, and that term wasn’t even a thing then. I was just doing what needed to be done, and a lot of times never given credit for it. And I was OK with that. I actually liked hiding and being in the background,” Knowles said. “And I realized when I look back on it that I was literally this country woman with this big hair from Texas with this thick accent. And I would go into a TV show like ‘The Tonight Show’ and have to fight with the lighting director. And they’d be like, ‘Who? This is somebody’s mama, get her out of here! And they didn’t take me seriously. But I would be a pest. And I would say, I’m sorry, but you got four Black girls, you need more light on them. And they’d be like, ‘Who are you to tell me about lighting?’ But I was doing all these things and I didn’t feel enough. I guess I didn’t feel like I was professionally trained, so I would just be OK with somebody kind of pushing me to the side.”

    Graham, a supermodel and pioneer for plus-size women in the fashion industry, and her UTA agent Natasha Bolouki spoke to Jennifer Maas, Variety’s senior business writer, TV and video games, about Graham’s work in designing apparel lines with retailer JC Penney. And Graham told the backstory of how she came to do a six-week stint on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago – despite the fact that she’s never worked as a singer nor a hoofer before.

    Ashley Graham at Variety‘s Entertainment Marketing Summit, presented by Deloitte (Photo by Savion Washington/Variety)

    Variety via Getty Images

    “Now, friends — I don’t sing, I don’t act, and I definitely don’t dance. But for some reason, I had it in my head that this was a goal of mine. And I’m a big manifester. I have the yellow pad every year. I’m writing my three or four pages and we’re getting it done. We’re putting it on the mirror and the walls. And when I first met Natasha and the whole team, they asked me what was the biggest dream I had that maybe hadn’t come true yet? And that was one of them. I kid you not,” Graham said.

    “Two months later, ‘Chicago’ calls and they’re like, ‘We want you to come in for an audition.’ I was not ready. I had no idea what I was doing. I spent my own money and I went and got the best music teacher, dance teacher, acting teacher. I nailed the audition. I was Roxie Hart in ‘Chicago’ for six weeks on Broadway, and UTA really helped me and made that happen,” she said. “And what that did for me is it made me say, I need to dream bigger. Because if something like that, where I’m not born with the skill set and I have to go and get trained for it, that means there’s a lot of training that could be happening for anything that I really want.”

    (Pictured top: Tina Knowles)

    Listen to Daily Variety on iHeartPodcasts, Apple Podcasts, Variety’s YouTube Podcast channel, Amazon Music, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

  • X is shutting down its Communities feature

    X is closing its Communities feature in May, X Head of Product Nikita Bier has announced. Communities were introduced before Twitter was acquired and rebranded by Elon Musk, and act as a way for users to create, join and moderate public groups focused on a particular interest. Communities make it possible to follow a feed made up of only the people or subject matter you care about, but they haven’t been used at the scale the social platform wanted.

    “Communities had a great vision, but they were used by less than 0.4% of users — yet contributed to 80% of spam reports, financial scams, and malware on X,” Bier said in a separate post. “It occupied half the team’s time some weeks, while the rest of the app suffered.” And while some real people did use groups to organize around niche topics, the most active groups were “user-acquisition channels for Kick or compensated clipper communities,” according to Bier, not really the intended uses for the feature in the first place.

    X’s proposed replacement for Communities is its new XChat app, which can currently host group chats of up to 350 people, and will be expanded to support group chats of up to 1,000 people in the future, Bier says. Moderators are able to pin links in their Communities so members can join a group chat before the Communities feature is fully retired on May 30, an extension to the previously proposed deadline of May 6.

    While that could keep groups together, a live group chat is fairly different from the asynchronous, separate-timeline-of-posts experience that Communities offered.  Group chats are typically active and demand your attention in a way a separate feed doesn’t. To get a timeline of posts focused on an interest, users will now have to turn to X’s new custom timelines feature, which uses Grok to automatically organize posts into feeds focused on topics like food, art or photography.

  • Titanium Court mashes together genres and cultural references to tell a strange, funny tale

    I’d love to tell you everything about my favorite game of the year so far. But that would be doing a great disservice to Titanium Court. I’m not even sure I could explain it all, anyway.

    Titanium Court is a run-based game with elements of permanent progression, so it’s technically a roguelite. However, you cannot really break Titanium Court like you can with Balatro. There are multiple ways to win a run, but you have to play by the rules. Gradually learning what those are — and how the game suddenly changes them — is a big part of what makes this so effective.

    I can at least break down the core gameplay loop for you. There are two stages to each battle in every run aka a “war.” The first is a match-three segment (think Candy Crush Saga), in which you gather resources by lining up wheat fields, rivers, hills and forests. At the same time, you’re setting up the terrain and positioning your own tile (the titular court) for the second stage. For instance, water will stop foot soldiers entirely, so you can position yourself behind a barricade of rivers to block them. But you’ll need to be careful, since a chain reaction of matches can wipe out your carefully constructed defense.

    At the same time, you’ll be moving around enemy strongholds. You can line up three or more matching enemy bases to eliminate them, but you don’t gain any resources from those. Plus, you can only make a limited number of moves in this phase. So that makes for an interesting risk-reward conundrum. A timeline shows you which enemies will attack and when so you can plan accordingly.

    The second phase is where the tower defense element really takes hold. You’ll use what you’ve collected to recruit soldiers to attack enemies or defend your base, add workers that will gather more resources and maybe deliver magic attacks. You can trade at shops and markets as long as you haven’t wiped them from the grid, since they’re bonded to terrain tiles. When you’re ready to fight, you hit a play button and the battle takes place automatically.

    Nothing’s as simple as it might seem at first, because this is a game that will mess with you. I was scolded for trying to buy my way to victory by trading too much, with the game calling that approach “boring” and closing the shop’s doors for the round. Perfectly fair. I chuckled the first time that happened. When I thought I was being clever by using the introspective power of self-reflection (you’ll see) to win a boss fight, I was swiftly shut down.

    Between wars, you’ll explore the titular court as its newly anointed queen, trying to figure out what on Earth is going on and, ultimately, how to get home. Here, Titanium Court morphs into a blend of old-school adventure game and bizarre visual novel. This is where much of the magic lies, and where you gradually learn about the story and even how to play the game.

    AP Thomson/Fellow Traveller

    Developer AP Thomson’s writing is smart and funny. I lost count of the number of jokes I’ve laughed out loud at. His narrative takes you in startlingly unexpected directions. It feels like a grand performance and Thomson is the master of ceremonies. It’s a confidently authored experience that offers further evidence as to why absolutely no one needs a generative AI game platform that seeks to “kill the scripted RPG.”

    Titanium Court won the prestigious Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards earlier this year and it’s not hard to see why. Thomson and his collaborators have cooked up something really special here.

    It’s a game with dragons and ballet, baseball and bike races, shower thoughts and wormholes. There are road signs in a world in which faeries believe cars are a figment of your imagination. It references Catan, the Civilization series, Jenga and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It skewers capitalism and social inequality. I’ll let you discover the details of the job system, which completely upends how you play the game, yourself. I haven’t been this engrossed by a game since Ball x Pit. It surprises and delights at almost every turn.

    Titanium Court is certainly not going to be for everyone (there’s so much reading!) and I’m going to stop here before I tell you too much about it. You can get a taste by checking out a Steam demo that’s available for PC and Mac. The full game arrived today. It usually costs $15, but it’s 20 percent off until May 7.

  • Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network to migrate to Ethereum next month, unlocking lower inflation and new builder rewards

    Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network to migrate to Ethereum next month, unlocking lower inflation and new builder rewards

    Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain built by Sky Mavis to power titles like Axie Infinity, is migrating to Ethereum on May 12, the team said this week.

    The move will end a four-year run as an independent sidechain and bring major upgrades to its ecosystem.

    The migration will cut RON inflation from over 20% to under 1% and expand treasury inflows. Ronin also plans to roll out Proof of Distribution, a system that automatically rewards builders based on their contributions.

    Proof of Distribution will reward contributors based on a measurable impact, including gas spend, user growth, and trading activity. Meanwhile, treasury inflows will expand via staking allocations, sequencer revenue, and increased marketplace fees.

    The result is a more efficient, secure, and incentive-aligned network for both builders and users, according to Ronin.

    The migration requires approximately 10 hours of downtime, during which no on-chain activity will be possible, as noted by the team. Node operators must upgrade before the scheduled hardfork at block #55577490.

    What made Ronin independent in the first place

    When Sky Mavis, the Vietnamese studio behind Axie Infinity, began developing Ronin in late 2020, Ethereum’s layer 2 options were still in their infancy.

    With mainnet gas fees becoming prohibitive for the game’s growth, Sky Mavis officially launched the Ronin mainnet in February 2021 to provide the high-throughput, low-cost environment necessary to onboard millions of players.

    The move fueled Axie’s massive expansion through early 2022, but independence came with a price. In March 2022, the North Korean-linked Lazarus Group exploited the Ronin bridge and drained roughly $625 million in assets, one of the largest hacks in crypto history.

    The Ethereum ecosystem looks nothing like it did six years ago. Layer 2 solutions are battle-tested, data availability costs have plummeted, and the OP Stack processes millions of transactions daily across multiple chains.

  • Bloomberg’s Legendary Analyst Mike McGlone Shares New Bitcoin Forecast: “Keep an Eye on $75,000 This Year”

    Bloomberg’s Legendary Analyst Mike McGlone Shares New Bitcoin Forecast: “Keep an Eye on $75,000 This Year”

    Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone has published a noteworthy assessment of Bitcoin’s performance against traditional markets.

    The analysis noted that the S&P 500 and Bitcoin have exhibited similar performance since 2021, but Bitcoin’s annual volatility has been approximately three times higher. According to the analyst, this is interpreted as a signal that the “golden age” of crypto assets may be over.

    McGlone stated that the ratio between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 (Bitcoin/SPX) is currently around 11x. According to the analyst, this ratio could surpass the 14x level seen after the launch of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, indicating that Bitcoin’s strongest performance periods are not yet behind us.

    Related News New Binance US CEO Assesses Bitcoin’s Future: “It Will Be a Golden Age”

    On the other hand, the analyst stated that despite the increase in the US money supply over the past five years and the market capitalization reaching 2.4x GDP, one of the highest levels since 1928, Bitcoin has not benefited sufficiently from this growth. This indicates that Bitcoin is now more subject to fundamental economic rules and may be negatively impacted by increasing competition in the market.

    McGlone also stated that around $75,000 is a critical threshold for Bitcoin in 2026. According to the analyst, especially in a scenario where US stock markets don’t hit new records, Bitcoin remaining above this level could be decisive for market sentiment.

    *This is not investment advice.

  • Italy slams Trump envoy proposal of taking Iran’s place in World Cup 2026

    Italy slams Trump envoy proposal of taking Iran’s place in World Cup 2026

    Italian government officials have hit back at suggestions that their national football team could still be sent to the World Cup 2026, even if already-qualified Iran does not compete at the finals.

    Since the United States-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, Iran’s participation in this summer’s edition of FIFA’s global showpiece has been in doubt because all of the country’s group-stage matches are scheduled to be played in the US.

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    The tournament is co-hosted with the US by Canada and Mexico, leading to suggestions that Iran’s games could be played at alternative venues.

    The speculation about Iran’s participation has been rife, with officials from both Iran and the US weighing in on the topic, including US President Donald Trump.

    In a statement on Wednesday, however, Iran’s government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said all necessary arrangements for the team’s effective participation in the tournament have been ensured by the Ministry of Sports and Youth.

    An envoy for Trump, though, has been quoted as suggesting that Italy, who have failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third straight edition, should replace Iran at this year’s World Cup.

    Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-American who is ⁠a US envoy for global relations, told the Financial Times that he made the suggestion to both Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

    “I’m an Italian native, and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion,” said Zampolli, who has no official connection with the World Cup ⁠or Italian football.

    The plan seems to be an effort by Zampolli to repair ties after Trump and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni fell out amid the US leader’s attacks against Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war.

    The suggestion, though, did not come from Trump or anyone within his administration.

    Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi has rebuked the idea, saying “it ‌is not appropriate… You qualify on the pitch,” while Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti described the concept as “shameful”.

    The suggestion has also provoked embarrassment from Azzurri fans, with Italian media reminding readers that the idea has a very familiar feel.

    Italy’s main sports news websites gave the story only a passing reference, but politicians and officials were quick to reject the idea.

    “First of all, I don’t think it’s possible,” Italian Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio said. “Second, I’d feel offended. In order to go to the World Cup, you have to earn it”.

    Leading Italian coach Gianni De Biasi told Reuters it was an unlikely proposal, with any theoretical Iranian absence logically to be filled by the team behind them in the qualifiers.

    “Furthermore, I believe Italy doesn’t need Trump’s support on an issue like this. I think we can manage on our own,” he said.

    David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers and former head of the global players’ union FIFPRO, was a little more cautious, saying: “People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit. We all agree on that, and we’re going to make that clear to FIFA.

    “But let’s take a look at the issues involved, as there may be different perspectives or situations in this regard that we might ⁠not be aware of.”

    Football’s world governing body FIFA responded by pointing to Infantino’s previous comments on Iran’s participation.

    “The Iranian team is coming, ⁠for sure,” he told last week’s CNBC Invest in America Forum: “They really want to play, and they should play. Sport should be outside politics.”

    Italy missing third successive World Cup

    Currently, there is no suggestion that Iran will withdraw or be banned from the tournament, which Italy missed out on after losing in ⁠a playoff for the third World Cup in a row.

    Iran qualified for a fourth successive World Cup last year but, after the start of the war, requested that FIFA move the team’s three group matches from the US to Mexico – a suggestion that was rejected.

    Iran is seemingly ⁠proceeding as planned. “We are preparing and making arrangements for the World Cup, but we are obedient to the ⁠decisions of the authorities,” Iranian football federation President Mehdi Taj told reporters at a pro-government rally in Tehran on Wednesday.

    Four years ago, Zampolli, when he was a United Nations ambassador, wrote to Infantino saying that “the world is demanding” that he disqualify Iran because of the country’s poor human rights record. He suggested then that the team be replaced with Italy.

    The request was ignored as Iran took part and went out after the group stage, having lost to England and ‌the US and beaten Wales.

    In the seemingly unlikely scenario of Iran being excluded, the decision on who would replace them lies in the hands of FIFA, which, under Article Six of the World Cup regulations, is at liberty to call up any nation it chooses.

    The Asian Football Confederation would be expected to lobby hard for the replacement to come from ‌Asia, with the United Arab Emirates, who lost a qualifying playoff to Iraq last November, the obvious choice.

    The World Cup gets under way on June 11 with Iran scheduled to kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles four days later.

  • ‘Deadliest Catch’ Sets Return Date and Reveals Plan to Address Death of Deckhand Todd Meadows

    ‘Deadliest Catch’ Sets Return Date and Reveals Plan to Address Death of Deckhand Todd Meadows

    Discovery Channel has set the premiere date for Season 22 of its hit franchise “Deadliest Catch,” and has shared further information on how the show will address the death of rookie crew member Todd Meadows.

    “Deadliest Catch” returns on Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel. Episodes will feature Meadows, who joined the Aleutian Lady as a deckhand in May 2025. He died on February 25 after falling overboard; he was featured as the show was in production for the second half of its season, and scenes with Meadows were filmed in the weeks before the accident.

    According to background information shared with press, the Aleutian Lady was equipped with cameras at the time of the incident, but it will not be shown on the show out of respect for his family and loved ones.

    Per information from Discovery, the season will pay tribute to Meadows in its premiere episode, and also share how his loss has impacted the Aleutian Lady crew and the fishing community. Meadows’ contributions will continue to be featured in the following episodes.

    According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Meadows died from “drowning with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water.” The Alaska Department of Health ruled that Meadows’ death was an accident.

    Here’s the logline for this season: “With a new king crab population appearing far north, the fleet relocates 225 miles to St. George Island, facing colder weather and more extreme seas than any season before as they work to sustain their livelihoods in rapidly changing waters. For the first time in decades, the captains abandon familiar fishing grounds to chase a rare breed of Red King Crab lurking in the frozen waters of the far North. This elusive catch, worth a fortune, pushes the fleet into remote territory and tests their experience and resilience at the edge of the world.”

    Among this season’s highlights, Captain Sig Hansen “launches an unprecedented covert scouting mission, deploying an underwater drone into the unknown waters in a bold attempt to locate the rare strain of king crab before the rest of the fleet arrives.”

    Meanwhile, Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski “journeys to St. George Island to share his decades of hard-earned knowledge” and Captain Jake Anderson, having lost his boat and his marriage, returns as a deckhand for the first time in 11 years. “When an unexpected opportunity emerges to restore the legendary Cornelia Marie, Jake steps back into the captain’s chair, putting his reputation and his family’s future on the line for one final shot at redemption,” the logline added.

    Fremantle’s Original Productions produces “Deadliest Catch” for Discovery. Here’s a first look:

  • Egg Coffee Is Percolating on TikTok, but May Pose Serious Health Risks

    A cup of Vietnamese egg coffee.Share on Pinterest
    Egg coffee is going viral on social media, but experts say the trendy drink may come with food safety risks depending on how it is prepared. VU PHAM VAN/Getty Images
    • Egg coffee, made with whipped egg yolks, sugar, and condensed milk, is going viral on social media platforms like TikTok.
    • Experts warn that the drink may increase the risk of Salmonella contamination from raw or undercooked eggs.
    • It can also be high in sugar and saturated fat.
    • Simple swaps can make it safer and healthier.

    A sweet, creamy twist on your morning cup of coffee is going viral on social media.

    It’s called egg coffee, and it’s typically made by whisking egg yolks with sugar and condensed milk into a rich, custard-like foam, then layering it over a strong cup of joe or espresso.

    While the drink is currently trending on TikTok, it isn’t exactly new. Versions of the dessert-like beverage have been around for decades, including Vietnamese egg coffee (cà phê trứng), Swedish egg coffee, and Italian egg-based drinks like zabaglione al caffè.

    But as the drink gains popularity, some experts are warning that it can carry some serious health risks.

    One of the biggest concerns about egg coffee is how it’s made. Many recipes call for raw or lightly heated egg yolks, which can carry Salmonella bacteria.

    “Consuming egg coffee using raw or undercooked yolk does carry a salmonella risk that shouldn’t be ignored,” said Michelle Routhenstein, a preventive cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

    While some people may assume that hot coffee is enough to make the drink safe, Routhenstein warns that’s usually not the case.

    “Hot coffee does not typically reach a safe temperature to cook the egg and reduce the potential risk of salmonella contamination,” Routhenstein said.

    Salmonella infection can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, which may begin anywhere from a few hours to a few days after exposure.

    While many healthy people recover without treatment, the infection can be more serious for certain groups, including older adults, pregnant people, and those with compromised immune systems.

    Although the risk of contamination from any single egg is relatively low, food safety experts generally recommend avoiding raw or undercooked eggs when possible.

    Beyond food safety concerns, egg coffee may also come with nutritional drawbacks.

    Combined with egg yolks, it can also contribute a notable amount of saturated fat.

    “We want to be mindful of the saturated fat content that this can add into your day,” Routhenstein said.

    “Egg yolks and condensed milk can carry several grams of saturated fat, and depending on what else you are eating, this can raise apoB and LDL cholesterol levels.”

    Higher levels of LDL cholesterol have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease over time.

    While occasional egg coffee consumption is unlikely to have a major impact on health, regularly drinking high-sugar, high–saturated–fat drinks may not be the best choice for long-term health.

    For those who are curious about egg coffee, there are ways to recreate a similar texture and flavor while reducing potential risks.

    “To lower salmonella risk, we need to eliminate the raw egg yolk,” Routhenstein said.

    One option is to swap in steamed milk or barista-style plant-based alternatives, such as oat milk, to create a creamy, foamy texture without using eggs.

    These options can mimic the drink’s signature richness while avoiding the food-safety concerns associated with raw or undercooked eggs.

    Another alternative is aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas), which can be whipped into a stable foam and used as a coffee topping.

    Using aquafaba “adds an airy cloud effect to your coffee without the salmonella [risk],” Routhenstein said.

    For those who still want to incorporate eggs, using pasteurized eggs may help reduce the risk of contamination. However, experts still recommend handling them carefully and avoiding recipes that rely on raw or undercooked eggs whenever possible.

    In addition to food safety concerns, making a few ingredient adjustments can help reduce the drink’s overall sugar and saturated fat content.

    Traditional recipes often rely on sweetened condensed milk and added sugar, which can quickly increase the calorie load.

    Swapping in lower-sugar alternatives, such as unsweetened or lightly sweetened milk, may help reduce added sugars while still providing a creamy texture.

    Using lower-fat dairy or plant-based milk can also help reduce saturated fat intake. For example, oat milk or almond milk can offer a similar richness without contributing as much saturated fat as condensed milk.

    Adjusting portion sizes or treating egg coffee as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit can also make a difference for those looking to support heart health over time.