Cryptocurrency
Coinbase bets on AI agents to drive crypto payment adoption
Artificial intelligence will not replace crypto, but rather trigger an explosion in its usage, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. By integrating the Base network with the x402 payment protocol, the firm is building an "Agentic Finance" stack designed to let software autonomously pay for digital services.
BNY Subsidiary Joins EU Crypto Register as Total Hits 309
The European Securities and Markets Authority has expanded its interim registry for crypto-asset service providers to 309 distinct firms, following the approval of 15 new entities across eight jurisdictions. Among the latest entries is BNY SA/NV, the Belgian banking subsidiary of the U.S.-based financial giant BNY.
The Valuation Gap: Why Crypto Tokens Often Lag Behind Corporate Equity
A central tension in modern digital finance pits the legal certainty of corporate equity against the often-vague economic promises of crypto tokens. Delphi Digital analysts argue that when projects operate both, token valuations frequently decouple from reality, ignoring the fact that actual business profits almost exclusively flow to shareholders.
Brazil Police Freeze R$1 Billion in Crypto-Linked Drug Probe
A sweeping federal operation across four Brazilian states has dismantled a transnational drug trafficking network accused of funneling 6.5 tons of cocaine to Europe. By utilizing shell companies, luxury real estate, and specialized crypto brokers, the organization allegedly laundered R$1 billion in illicit proceeds before the crackdown triggered mass arrests.
South Korea courts Silicon Valley to fuel domestic startup growth
President Lee Jae-myung has secured memorandums of understanding between the National Pension Service and six major Silicon Valley venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, to channel global capital into South Korea’s artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors while bolstering its domestic startup ecosystem.
Why Prediction Market Odds Are Not Literal Probabilities
A contract trading at 70 cents suggests a 70% chance of success, but treating that figure as a literal oracle is a costly mistake. While prediction markets effectively aggregate information, they are constrained by capital costs, behavioral biases, and structural mechanics that systematically bend the mapping between price and reality.
POSCO Trials Tokenized Trade Receivables on Injective Blockchain
South Korean trading giant POSCO International is moving commercial trade claims onto a blockchain, testing a system where real-world receivables are tokenized for settlement. Partnering with LG CNS and the Injective network, the company aims to replace fragmented invoice records with a single, shared ledger for its international subsidiaries.
Japan Considers Easing Crypto Leverage Limits to Boost Market Liquidity
Japan’s current 2x leverage cap on cryptocurrency trading is too restrictive, according to Seiji Kihara, a senior ruling party lawmaker. As the nation pivots toward treating digital assets as formal financial products, officials are debating whether relaxing these constraints is essential to improve liquidity and facilitate efficient price discovery.
KB Kookmin Bank Shifts Trade Settlements to J.P. Morgan’s Blockchain
KB Kookmin Bank is set to become the first South Korean institution to integrate J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys network for corporate trade settlements. Launching next month, the service will facilitate U.S. dollar cross-border transfers across 10 countries, marking a pivot toward programmable payments for the bank’s institutional clients.
CFTC Tightens Oversight on Prediction Market Filings
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued a second warning this year to prediction-market operators, demanding an end to broad, template-style self-certifications for event contracts. Regulators argue these generic filings bypass essential compliance reviews and mask the specific risks inherent in rapidly expanding event-based betting markets.
Stripe stablecoin lead Connor Fitzgerald departs after global expansion
Connor Fitzgerald, who spearheaded the development of Stripe’s global stablecoin card program, has officially left the company. His exit follows a tenure defined by the rapid scaling of blockchain-based payment infrastructure across more than 100 markets, marking a pivotal transition for the firm’s crypto-focused subsidiary, Bridge.
Garden Finance halts app operations following solver database breach
An attacker siphoned approximately $450,000 in USDT from Garden Finance after compromising the off-chain database of an independent network solver. While the protocol took its application offline to isolate the breach, officials confirmed that its core smart contracts and user-deposited funds remained secure throughout the incident.
Triple-A Treasury Breach Leaves Client Funds Intact
Singapore-based payment firm Triple-A confirmed unauthorized access to its treasury wallets on July 25, resulting in a loss of company-owned digital assets. While on-chain investigators estimate the theft at approximately $11.8 million, the firm maintains that all client funds and global payment operations remain secure and fully functional.
Brian Armstrong: AI agents will soon out-transact human users
Autonomous AI agents will eventually conduct more daily financial transactions than the entire human population combined, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. He argues that rather than competing, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are complementary forces, with blockchain serving as the essential financial infrastructure for a new machine-led economy.
WEMIX Suspends Bridge Services After Unauthorized Minting Breach
An attacker seized control of owner privileges on the WEMIX$ stablecoin contract on July 26, enabling the illicit minting of 5.23 million tokens. The breach forced the WEMIX network to halt bridge operations and liquidity pools as the project scrambles to freeze funds across multiple blockchain platforms.
Storj Labs Files for Bankruptcy to Shed Legacy Debt
Decentralized cloud storage provider Storj Labs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of West Virginia. The company, which previously raised $35 million through venture capital and a 2017 token sale, intends to restructure its finances while maintaining its core network operations and customer services.
KB Kookmin Bank Taps J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys for Cross-Border Payments
Ten countries will gain access to near-real-time U.S. dollar transfers starting August 2026, as South Korea’s largest lender integrates blockchain settlement into its corporate banking operations. The move marks the first time a Korean financial institution has adopted the J.P. Morgan-backed network for international trade and foreign exchange services.
Crypto’s expensive compliance shift signals wave of European M&A
With the European Union’s MiCA transition period concluded, crypto firms are facing a stark reality: the heavy financial burden of permanent regulatory compliance. As smaller players struggle to maintain governance, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering systems, a surge in mergers, acquisitions, and strategic bank partnerships appears increasingly inevitable across the continent.
Strategy Stress-Tests Balance Sheet Against Prolonged Bitcoin Slump
A steady 11.4% annual decline in Bitcoin prices for nearly six years would not exhaust the company's ability to fund debt interest and preferred dividends, according to internal modeling. The firm’s proprietary BTC Rating metric suggests its current capital structure maintains a 1.0x coverage ratio under these specific, prolonged conditions.
Charles Hoskinson: Bitcoin Governance Faces Quantum Reckoning
Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has issued a pointed critique of Bitcoin’s ability to survive the quantum computing era. He argues that Bitcoin’s rigid, decentralized structure may prove too cumbersome to implement the rapid security upgrades necessary to protect user funds against future quantum-based decryption threats.
LMAX Group weighs $5 billion exit strategy
Institutional trading powerhouse LMAX Group has initiated a strategic review to explore a potential sale or public listing, a move that could value the London-based firm at up to $5 billion. According to insiders, the company is working with Morgan Stanley and KBW to evaluate options including a U.S. or European IPO.
Bitcoin Mining Energy Demand Spikes as Hydropower Takes Lead
Bitcoin mining’s annualized electricity consumption surged to 190 terawatt-hours by December 2025, marking a 38% increase in just 18 months. Preliminary research from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance reveals that while the network's power appetite is ballooning, a shift toward hydroelectric sources is altering the industry's carbon footprint.
XRP Ledger Captures $2.6 Billion in Tokenized Real-World Assets
The XRP Ledger recorded $2.6 billion in new real-world asset inflows over the past six months, securing second place among major blockchain networks. This surge, tracked by RWA.xyz, highlights a shift toward onchain record-keeping for energy contracts and institutional financial products, even as the ledger's liquidity profile remains heavily concentrated.
Bitcoin Policy Institute joins U.S. State Department tech initiative
The Bitcoin Policy Institute has secured a seat as a founding partner in the U.S. State Department’s Freedom Tech Excellence Program. This talent initiative embeds private-sector specialists into diplomatic teams to address global digital challenges, ranging from online censorship and surveillance to the governance of artificial intelligence.
Robinhood eyes Crypto.com partnership to scale prediction markets
Robinhood is in talks to integrate Crypto.com’s event contracts into its rapidly expanding prediction market hub, a move aimed at diversifying its supplier base. By moving beyond its reliance on Kalshi and its own Rothera venture, the brokerage seeks to secure a dominant position in a sector projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Binance weaponizes fake phishing to tighten internal security
Every month, Binance subjects its workforce to simulated phishing attacks designed to mimic the sophisticated social engineering tactics currently draining billions from the cryptocurrency sector. This internal red-teaming program serves as a high-stakes stress test, directly linking an employee's ability to spot malicious lures to their professional performance ratings.
Wise Targets GENIUS Act After OCC Rejection of U.S. Charter Bid
After the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied its inaugural bid for a national trust bank charter in Austin, Texas, fintech giant Wise is pivoting toward the federal framework established by the GENIUS Act to secure its U.S. regulatory standing.
BitMart Announces Phased Shutdown as BMX Token Crashes
Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart has begun an orderly wind-down of its global platform, sparking a 63% collapse in the value of its native BMX token. The exchange cited shifting market conditions and strategic changes for the closure, ending a seven-year run that saw the firm reach a $300 million valuation.
BlueNoroff hackers use fake video calls to profile crypto wallets
A North Korea-linked hacking group is weaponizing fake Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings to harvest cryptocurrency assets. By compromising trusted Telegram accounts, attackers lure industry professionals into meetings where they silently scan browser-based wallets for high-value targets before deploying custom malware payloads designed for Windows and macOS.
Upbit Adds Morpho and Euler to KRW Market Amid Volatility
South Korea’s largest exchange, Upbit, has expanded its KRW-denominated offerings by listing decentralized lending tokens Morpho (MORPHO) and Euler (EUL). The move provides local investors direct access to Ethereum-based DeFi protocols, though the rollout for Euler faced a last-minute schedule adjustment due to liquidity requirements.