Cryptocurrency
JPMorgan Upgrades Riot Platforms Following Landmark AI Data Center Deal
Riot Platforms shares climbed 4.7% to $19.91 after JPMorgan raised its price target to $22, citing growing momentum from a massive $9.1 billion data center agreement. The deal, which reportedly involves Anthropic, marks a significant shift for the Bitcoin miner as it pivots toward high-performance computing infrastructure.
Pirated Copies of The Odyssey Used to Spread Lumma Stealer Malware
Cybercriminals are distributing the Lumma Stealer malware through fake, high-quality torrents of the film The Odyssey. By disguising malicious Windows executables as legitimate video files, attackers are targeting unsuspecting users to harvest sensitive data, including cryptocurrency wallet credentials, browser cookies, and saved passwords.
OpenAI and Nvidia bet $105 billion on Ohio mega-campus
A massive data center project is taking shape in Pike County, Ohio, where OpenAI has committed to a 20-year lease for 4.25 gigawatts of AI capacity. The facility, built on the site of a former gaseous diffusion plant, comes with $105 billion in financial guarantees from Nvidia.
SEC Eyes Regulatory Path for 24/7 Tokenized Stock Trading
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is crafting an innovation exemption that could allow qualified platforms to trade tokenized versions of U.S. stocks around the clock. The initiative seeks to integrate blockchain-based markets into the existing financial system while maintaining federal oversight of custody, shareholder rights, and market integrity.
US Treasury Defines Jurisdictional Reach for GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department has opened a 60-day public comment period on proposed definitions for issuing, offering, and selling stablecoins. These rules establish the jurisdictional boundaries for the GENIUS Act, a legislative framework set to mandate federal or state licensing for all domestic stablecoin activities starting in January 2027.
Strategy Holds Bitcoin Steady After Raising $333.7 Million in Stock Sales
Strategy bypassed Bitcoin acquisitions last week, opting instead to bolster its cash reserves and fund preferred stock obligations. The company raised $333.7 million through common stock sales between August 10 and August 16, maintaining its total holdings at 840,447 BTC while aggressively managing its capital structure.
InterContinental Riyadh Named Venue Partner for FINNOVEX Saudi Arabia 2026
The InterContinental Riyadh by IHG will host the upcoming FINNOVEX Saudi Arabia summit, serving as the premium venue partner for the event scheduled for September 2–3, 2026. Organizers aim to align the hotel’s facilities with a high-level agenda focused on the Kingdom’s shifting digital finance landscape.
Tudor Investment reverses course on BlackRock Bitcoin ETF holdings
Tudor Investment increased its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by 18.9% during the second quarter, marking a strategic pivot after a year of consistent reductions. Regulatory filings reveal the hedge fund added 109,446 shares, bringing its total position to 688,529 shares valued at approximately $22.9 million by June 30.
Dutch Prosecutors Liquidate Knaken Crypto Assets for €2.2 Million
Dutch authorities have offloaded €2.2 million in cryptocurrency seized from the bankrupt trading platform Knaken, providing the only liquid funds currently available to satisfy an estimated €10 million to €12 million in customer claims. The move leaves approximately 6,300 users facing significant losses as bankruptcy proceedings intensify.
Harmony proposes blockchain rollback to reverse massive forged token mint
Harmony plans to roll back its network to two August 11 checkpoints to purge a forged mint that flooded the ecosystem with 2.385 trillion ONE tokens. The recovery strategy, which involves discarding over 109,000 transactions, aims to excise the fraudulent supply before it permeates further into decentralized exchanges and bridges.
Austria’s FMA Slaps Bitpanda with €70,000 Fine Over MiCA Violations
The Austrian Financial Market Authority has issued a €70,000 penalty to Bitpanda, marking the regulator’s first published enforcement action under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. The fine stems from procedural lapses regarding mandatory white paper disclosures and non-compliant marketing communications released before regulatory review.
CZ Pushes Trust Wallet to Simplify Token Management Controls
After retiring his own public wallet due to an influx of unsolicited meme coins, Binance cofounder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is calling for a more accessible interface for hiding unwanted assets. While Trust Wallet already includes an ignore function, Zhao notes the current five-step process is too cumbersome for most users.
Blockstream Launches Swap Service Following Boltz Shutdown
Blockstream has moved its new atomic swap service into beta testing, accelerating development after noncustodial provider Boltz suspended operations. Boltz halted its services on August 3, citing an inability to keep pace with sophisticated, AI-assisted probing and repeated exploitation attempts that targeted its infrastructure over several months.
Binance Data Disclosure Fuels Terrorism Case Against IT Specialist
Russian investigators secured identity documents and transaction logs from Binance to build a terrorism financing case against Yuri Belenkiy. The 49-year-old IT specialist stands accused of funneling over $700 in cryptocurrency to groups linked to the Ukrainian military, a move Moscow classifies as support for a terrorist organization.
China Expands Digital Yuan Network with Eight New Banking Partners
The People’s Bank of China has added eight commercial banks to its digital yuan operating network, bringing the total number of authorized service providers to 30. This expansion marks a rapid scaling of the state-backed digital currency infrastructure as regulators push for wider retail and cross-border adoption throughout 2026.
Knaken Bankruptcy Leaves Creditors Facing Steep Losses
Dutch prosecutors have liquidated the remaining cryptocurrency assets seized from the failed exchange Knaken for €2.2 million, providing the bankruptcy estate with its first pool of capital. While this sum offers a starting point, it covers only a fraction of the €10 million to €12 million in estimated customer claims.
Ripple Mints 10 Million RLUSD as Supply Hits 1.71 Billion
Ripple issued 10 million RLUSD tokens on the XRP Ledger on August 17, pushing the stablecoin’s total circulating supply to approximately 1.711 billion. While the transaction was verified on-chain, it remains unclear whether the mint signifies new institutional demand or simple internal inventory management by an authorized customer.
Stripe Reportedly Nears $7 Billion Acquisition of OpenRouter
Stripe has reached a deal to acquire AI model-routing startup OpenRouter for over $7 billion, a valuation leap that highlights the rapid consolidation of artificial intelligence infrastructure. The transaction, though not yet formally confirmed by either party, would value the platform at more than five times its May funding round.
Duquesne Family Office Bets $23M on Hyperliquid Treasury Strategy
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office has revealed a $23 million stake in Hyperliquid Strategies, marking a strategic entry into the digital asset treasury model. The investment provides the firm with indirect exposure to the HYPE token via the Nasdaq-listed entity, which operates as a specialized corporate holding vehicle.
Greenlane Treasury Shrinks as BERA Holdings Lose $53 Million in Value
Greenlane Holdings’ digital asset treasury has plummeted to a fair value of $16.4 million by the end of the second quarter, marking a 76.6% decline from its $70 million cost basis. The Nasdaq-listed company continues to lean heavily into its Berachain strategy despite a sharp, ongoing downturn in the token’s market price.
Capital B expands Bitcoin treasury to 3,145 BTC
Euronext Growth Paris-listed Capital B has added five Bitcoin to its strategic reserve, bringing its total holdings to 3,145 BTC. The firm acquired the assets for €280,000, funding the purchase through a fresh equity issuance program as it continues to lean into its aggressive accumulation strategy.
BitMart users and staff set August 19 deadline for financial clarity
A group of BitMart users and employees has issued a formal demand for the exchange to disclose its full financial reserves, explain ongoing withdrawal restrictions, and provide a concrete repayment plan by August 19. The ultimatum follows the firm’s recent announcement that it will cease all operations by early 2027.
Ross Gerber Questions Bitcoin's Utility in Shift Away from Crypto
“Probably easier to use gold than bitcoin in most places still,” investment adviser Ross Gerber declared on August 16, marking a sharp pivot for a financier who once championed the cryptocurrency to his own clients. His skepticism now targets both the network's daily utility and its long-term industrial value.
Ethlabs sets four-point agenda for Ethereum's upcoming Hegotá upgrade
The Ethereum research organization Ethlabs has identified four core priorities for the network's upcoming Hegotá upgrade, scheduled for 2027. By advocating for improved censorship resistance, faster block times, native account abstraction, and aggressive Layer 1 scaling, the group aims to steer the technical scope as developers finalize the fork's features.
Apple Patches macOS Screen Sharing Flaw Exploited for Cryptojacking
Attackers have exploited a critical authentication vulnerability in macOS Screen Sharing, gaining root access to remotely install Monero mining software. The Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre confirmed active exploitation of the flaw, which has since been upgraded to a 9.8 critical severity rating by CISA.
Novig challenges Wisconsin gambling laws in federal court
Wisconsin is the fifth state to face a lawsuit from prediction market operator Novig, which is seeking to block state officials from enforcing local gambling statutes against its sports contracts. The company argues that its federally regulated exchange operates under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Changpeng Zhao empties public wallet in $965K donation to Giggle Academy
Changpeng Zhao has drained his long-monitored public crypto wallet, transferring roughly $965,000 in BNB and 币安人生 tokens to his education initiative, Giggle Academy. The move follows persistent issues with unsolicited meme coins that created a constant stream of market speculation surrounding his personal holdings.
Vitalik Buterin outlines hybrid scaling path for Ethereum
Drawing inspiration from Bitcoin’s Utreexo model, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has signaled a shift in the network’s long-term scaling strategy. The proposal aims to integrate UTXO-style state management alongside existing account models, potentially easing the storage burden on nodes without compromising decentralization or censorship resistance.
Crypto migration scams surge following MiCA regulatory deadline
Scammers are exploiting the European Union’s recent MiCA transition, impersonating regulators and exchanges to target users forced to migrate their assets. With over 1,000 crypto firms lacking authorization, criminals are deploying counterfeit notices and fake platforms to siphon funds from unsuspecting customers navigating the mandatory wind-down of services.
Sandisk Perpetual Futures Surge to $1.73 Billion in Open Interest
Sandisk-linked perpetual futures have secured their position as the crypto market’s largest equity-based derivatives product, with aggregate open interest hitting $1.73 billion as of August 17 across 32 tracked platforms, signaling a rapid expansion in synthetic exposure to traditional assets.