Connect with us

Crypto World

Crypto Firms Still Seek Frontier AI Access, With Only Few Approved

Published

on

Crypto Breaking News

Crypto security leaders are grappling with a growing mismatch: attackers increasingly benefit from cutting-edge, AI-assisted capabilities, while many major crypto firms still lack direct access to the most powerful “frontier” cyber models used for security testing and code hardening.

In June, Coinbase said it had secured access to Anthropic’s restricted Mythos model, and Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said Anthropic used Mythos to help audit the Zcash protocol at the request of Shielded Labs. Yet other large players, including Binance, have publicly indicated they have not been able to obtain similar access—highlighting an emerging “security divide” across the industry.

Key takeaways

  • Major crypto firms have uneven access to restricted frontier cyber models like Anthropic’s Mythos, leaving some with fewer defensive tools than others.
  • Executives argue gating advanced models is initially necessary because attackers may adopt new capabilities faster than defenders.
  • As publicly available models close the capability gap, industry pressure is likely to increase for wider defender access to restricted tools.
  • Recent incidents involving AI-assisted exploitation and wallet/bridge security show why faster defensive iteration is becoming critical.

Why access to “frontier” cyber models is uneven

Anthropic’s Mythos is positioned as a restricted version of a model also related to a more public offering—its developers say the underlying base is similar, but that Mythos removes certain safeguards that limit sensitive cybersecurity work. OpenAI has described a comparable approach, offering different tiers of capability depending on the type of user and intended use, including “Trusted Access for Cyber” for verified defenders.

Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su told Cointelegraph that the gap remains meaningful. According to Su, Binance has been trying to make progress on obtaining such tools, including conversations with other crypto exchanges and investors, but it has not obtained the most advanced model like Mythos.

This uneven rollout matters because the cyber threat landscape is moving faster than traditional security review cycles. In an ecosystem where vulnerabilities can be exploited rapidly—often with automated or semi-automated assistance—having fewer defensive options can translate into slower discovery and patching.

Advertisement

Executives back initial gating—then question the long-term rationale

Crypto security executives interviewed by Cointelegraph said there is likely a legitimate need to restrict initial access to frontier cyber models. The reasoning is straightforward: if a new model enhances attackers more quickly than defenders, it can increase the ecosystem’s exposure before the security community catches up.

Su suggested that controlled rollout can reduce the “blast radius,” especially early on. However, he also argued that the justification changes as competing models become more powerful and more widely available. In that scenario, the pressure shifts to model developers to broaden access—and the key question becomes whether defenders can use the tools effectively at the same pace attackers do.

Michael Coates, chief information security officer at the Solana Foundation, echoed the tension. Coates supported safeguards but said verification and acceptance pathways can slow down legitimate defensive usage. In his view, defenders need a more streamlined process to get advanced models into the hands of teams that can evaluate code and identify issues before they are exploited.

Blockchain Capital’s Sean Cheetham also leaned toward eventual opening. He argued that while malicious actors are skilled, the broader pool of security researchers tends to be larger. If “good people” can scale their defensive work, broader access could ultimately strengthen the ecosystem more than it helps attackers.

Advertisement

Large exchanges and builders still waiting, while some crypto-adjacent firms got in

Binance’s access situation is notable given its scale: DefiLlama data cited by Cointelegraph places Binance’s total assets at $137.8 billion. Despite that footprint, Su indicated the exchange had not reached the highest tier of frontier cyber-model access.

Cointelegraph also reported additional signals of staggered access within the sector. Fireblocks, a major crypto custodian, said in April it had sought access to Mythos. At that time, it relied on Anthropic’s publicly available model for penetration testing rather than restricted access. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams similarly criticized safeguards tied to cybersecurity prompts in relation to Fable 5.

Separately, the Ethereum Foundation said in July that it has been running “coordinated AI agents” to find bugs across its systems but did not specify which models were being used. Cointelegraph reached out to the Ethereum Foundation, Fireblocks, and Uniswap to confirm whether they had received access to restricted frontier models since those earlier statements.

While many crypto players appear to be waiting, some crypto-adjacent organizations have moved ahead. FIS, which provides technology to banks and partnered with Circle last year for USDC payments, said it joined Anthropic’s Project Glasswing program last month. Project Glasswing is designed as a gated channel for vetted cyber defenders and critical software infrastructure organizations to obtain early access to restricted Mythos models.

Advertisement

HackerOne—known for bug bounty and security testing—also said it joined Project Glasswing. Cointelegraph notes that, in this case, testing is limited to HackerOne’s own infrastructure rather than being extended to customer programs.

Cointelegraph reached out to OpenAI and Anthropic for details on how many crypto companies have been granted access to restricted models, but those responses are not included in the article text provided.

Why the stakes are rising: AI-assisted exploitation and faster attacker iteration

The access debate is playing out against a backdrop of security incidents that organizations link to faster exploitation cycles. On Monday, Bitcoin swap service Boltz said it paused its non-custodial bridge after it observed a steady rise in AI-assisted hacking attempts over the past few months. Boltz’s statement, as reported by Cointelegraph, argued that the pattern is that attackers can iterate faster than a smaller security team can find and patch issues.

Hardware wallet maker Coinkite reported last week that some of its Coldcard devices were exploited due to a flaw in wallet seed generation. Coinkite indicated the randomness of the seed generation was less than expected and speculated that the attacker may have used AI to examine previous firmware versions to identify and exploit the weakness—even though the company said it had used “one of the best available AI models” to review its code only weeks earlier.

Advertisement

These examples underscore a key practical problem: even when defenders use advanced tools, the cadence mismatch—how quickly attackers can adapt and how quickly defenders can verify fixes—can still drive outcomes. Access to restricted models may be only part of the answer; process, testing rigor, and deployment speed remain central to reducing real-world risk.

Next, readers should watch whether frontier-model providers expand defender access beyond the current limited pipelines and whether security teams can demonstrate that broader availability improves outcomes rather than accelerating exploitation. The gap between who can test with the most capable tools—and how quickly they can patch—may become one of the defining operational fault lines in crypto security.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Crypto World

Dinari opens tokenized S&P 500 stock trading to U.S. investors

Published

on

What is a transfer agent in tokenized securities?

Dinari has introduced tokenized access to the entire S&P 500 for U.S. investors, allowing eligible users to trade blockchain-based shares backed one-to-one by underlying securities.

Summary

  • Dinari has launched tokenized versions of all S&P 500 stocks for eligible U.S. investors.
  • Users can buy and sell blockchain based equities through self custody wallets funded with USDC.
  • Each tokenized share is backed by an underlying security held in regulated custody and carries investor rights.
  • The launch comes as competition in tokenized equities continues to grow among crypto and financial firms.
  • Dinari says its platform is already available across 85 jurisdictions and supports more than 6,100 tokenized assets.

According to Fortune, the launch expands Dinari’s blockchain-based equities platform through a wallet-first system that lets users fund accounts with USDC instead of relying on traditional brokerage infrastructure.

The rollout allows eligible U.S. users to buy and sell tokenized shares through self-custody wallets instead of conventional brokerage accounts. 

Advertisement

Dinari said the launch combines tokenized equities with stablecoin payments through a partnership with Circle, creating what it describes as a link between the roughly $300 billion stablecoin market and the more than $60 trillion U.S. equities market. 

Circle declined to comment, citing a quiet period ahead of its upcoming earnings report.

Dinari replaces traditional brokerage access with tokenized stocks

Rather than relying on the conventional brokerage process, Dinari’s platform lets users fund accounts with USDC and hold tokenized equities directly in compatible wallets. The company said the model removes several layers of the traditional brokerage system while allowing investors to remain in control of their assets.

Each tokenized security, branded as a dShare, is backed one-to-one by an underlying stock held in regulated custody. According to Dinari, holders retain rights associated with the underlying securities, including voting rights, cash dividends distributed in native USDC, corporate actions, and redemption based on market prices.

Advertisement

Because transfers occur on blockchain infrastructure, transactions can settle almost instantly instead of following the standard market settlement cycle. Dinari also said tokenized portfolios can move between supported platforms rather than remaining tied to a single brokerage account.

The company added that its tokenized stock platform is already available across 85 jurisdictions outside the new U.S. rollout and currently supports 6,139 active tokenized assets.

Tokenized equities market continues to expand

A recent a16z crypto report said the market value of tokenized stocks climbed about 600% to nearly $1.7 billion by the end of June, as more financial firms introduced blockchain-based versions of traditional securities.

While firms including Securitize and Figure have developed tokenized asset offerings, Fortune reported that they have largely concentrated on private or specialized assets. Dinari co-founder and chief executive Gabriel Otte said his company’s model differs by making publicly traded U.S. stocks available through tokenized securities.

Advertisement

The launch also comes as competition in tokenized equities continues to increase. Robinhood recently introduced tokenized stock products through its blockchain network for eligible European users, while Coinbase and Base have said they are working toward one-to-one-backed tokenized equities using regulated structures.

Dinari has also expanded its regulatory and institutional presence over the past two years. In July 2024, the company joined the Blockchain Association to participate in U.S. policy discussions covering tokenized securities, digital asset market structure and financial regulation.

At the time, Dinari said tokenization should operate within existing securities laws while preserving investor protections already established in traditional capital markets. The company also noted that it operates as an SEC-registered transfer agent, while its broker-dealer subsidiary is registered with the SEC and is a member of FINRA and SIPC.

Advertisement

CEO points to long-standing market structure concerns

Speaking to Fortune, Otte said the idea for Dinari grew out of his own experience after leaving cancer diagnostics company Freenome, where he had been a co-founder.

After becoming a client of wealth management firms, he said he found the traditional investment system difficult to understand because clients often receive limited visibility into how their money is managed. He argued that existing capital markets tend to favor established participants and provide limited transparency for individual investors.

Otte also criticized the role of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, describing it as a centralized system that makes it difficult for investors to move assets freely between brokerages. According to him, blockchain-based ownership could remove many of those restrictions by allowing investors to control tokenized securities directly through digital wallets.

Fortune quoted Otte as saying he expects blockchain-issued tokens to eventually become the trusted record of stock ownership, allowing investors to hold assets directly rather than through multiple intermediaries.

Advertisement

Dinari continues building regulated blockchain infrastructure

Founded in 2021 by Gabriel Otte, former LegalZoom executive Chas Rampenthal and Crunchyroll founder Brandon Ooi, Dinari has continued building infrastructure that connects regulated financial institutions with blockchain settlement.

Earlier this year, the company introduced the Dinari Financial Network, a framework designed to connect broker-dealers, exchanges, custodians, issuers and transfer agents across the lifecycle of tokenized securities. 

According to Dinari, the network supports issuance, trading, custody, settlement, dividend distribution and corporate actions while allowing participating firms to keep their existing regulatory responsibilities.

The company has also worked with established financial and crypto firms on tokenization initiatives. Earlier participants in the Dinari Financial Network included Gemini, BitGo and VanEck, while another partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices and Chainlink brought the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index onto blockchain infrastructure.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Yen intervention signals liquidity shifts, putting Bitcoin and risk assets at risk

Published

on

Crypto Breaking News

The United States and Japan have carried out a rare joint intervention to support the yen, and the follow-up messaging from Washington suggests the coordination is likely to intensify rather than fade after a single market move. For crypto markets, the key question is how the intervention affects global dollar liquidity and the balance-sheet stress that can follow when the yen carry trade unwinds.

Earlier this month, the US and Japan conducted their first joint yen intervention since the late 1990s, when the yen was still considered a different kind of funding currency. The event also reinforced the role of Fed-related dollar liquidity channels—an issue that matters to traders broadly, including those holding Bitcoin and other risk assets.

Key takeaways

  • The first US-Japan joint yen intervention since 1998 sets a potential precedent for future coordination.
  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda ahead of the late-August G20 finance ministers session.
  • Bessent highlighted the Fed’s FIMA repo facility as a “backstop” and urged that it be upsized to support dollar liquidity.
  • Japanese two-year bond yields rose above 1.57% on Monday, signaling higher rates and increasing pressure on yen funding strategies.
  • Crypto market participants view a possible end to the yen carry trade as a swing factor for liquidity conditions and risk appetite.

US-Japan coordination returns to the spotlight

Last week’s intervention was notable not only for its timing but for its design. According to reporting in the source, the New York Fed sold euros on behalf of the US Treasury, using the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), a reserve pool used for currency stabilization activities. The practical goal was to support the yen, which had fallen to around 164 per US dollar—levels described as the weakest in roughly four decades.

That “first since 1998” framing matters because it hints at a shift toward deeper macro-policy coordination. If interventions become more common, markets may start pricing not just immediate exchange-rate stabilization, but longer-term expectations for policy alignment between Washington and Tokyo.

Bessent’s message: more planning, and more liquidity insurance

After the joint intervention, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly drew attention to upcoming coordination with the Bank of Japan. He specifically said he planned to meet with BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda during the G20 gathering of finance ministers in North Carolina at the end of August. Bessent’s post emphasized ongoing “close coordination” with Japan’s leadership and central bank.

Advertisement

Beyond the meeting itself, Bessent’s focus shifted to liquidity plumbing. He pointed to the Fed’s Foreign and International Monetary Authorities (FIMA) repo facility, describing it as an important backstop and arguing that it should be expanded “in the coming months.”

The core mechanism, as described in the source, is that the Fed provides dollars to foreign institutions. Those institutions can use Treasuries as collateral, which helps increase the supply of dollars outside the US without forcing sales of US Treasuries. For US Treasury markets, that distinction is material: if dollar liquidity support is delivered via repo channels rather than through abrupt Treasury market actions, the risk of destabilizing pricing and yields is reduced.

The yen carry trade unwind: why bond yields and liquidity collide

The yen carry trade has long depended on a relatively low-yielding yen funding base. The source argues that expectations have built around the trade’s gradual disintegration as Japan moves away from the prolonged era of very low interest rates.

A tangible indicator of that shift appeared in the domestic bond market. According to the article, Japanese two-year bond yields rose above 1.57% on Monday, a move interpreted as evidence that low-rate conditions are ending sooner than many markets had previously assumed. When yen yields rise, the economic logic of borrowing in yen and investing elsewhere becomes less attractive, increasing the probability of carry trade unwinds.

Advertisement

The liquidity angle is complicated. Carry trade unwinds can produce sharp cross-currency flows, which may temporarily tighten financial conditions for some market participants. Yet, Bessent’s emphasis on FIMA’s role signals a policy effort to prevent such stress from spilling into broader dollar funding markets—an effort that could support risk assets if it succeeds.

That tension is part of why reactions to the intervention were described as mixed in the source. Economist Mohamed El-Erian argued that Washington is now “bound into coordination” with the BoJ, suggesting that the effectiveness of the strategy may increasingly rely on a broader alignment within Tokyo—across the central bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Prime Minister’s Office—rather than on US actions alone.

What this could mean for Bitcoin and risk assets

For Bitcoin, the immediate causal path isn’t direct—BTC doesn’t trade on yen carry trade mechanics. But liquidity conditions often influence how investors and institutions manage exposure to volatile assets. In that sense, the same macro levers that affect currency markets can still shape the risk environment for crypto.

The source highlights a particularly bullish hope circulating in Bitcoin circles: that a disorderly or at least notable yen carry trade unwind could ultimately tighten funding stress and reshape global liquidity in ways that benefit BTC. Even if that outcome is framed as a “bull case,” the pathway depends on whether policymakers can cushion the dollar-liquidity shock while also allowing yen stabilization to proceed.

Advertisement

At the same time, there are clear reasons for caution. If Japanese actions push up the cost of borrowing across markets—or if liquidity support via repo facilities proves insufficient—investors could see risk assets react to financial tightening rather than easing. The source specifically notes that Japan’s large holdings of Treasuries could raise yields if more Treasury-related sales occur, which would spill into broader borrowing costs. That’s why the emphasis on FIMA matters: it’s intended to support dollar liquidity without directly impairing Treasuries.

Watch points for traders and long-term holders

The next phase will likely be defined by two things: whether the US and Japan continue institutional coordination after the initial intervention, and how large and sustained any liquidity support becomes via the FIMA repo facility. Traders should also monitor Japanese short-end rates—such as the two-year area cited above—because they offer an early signal of how quickly funding incentives are changing and how much pressure remains for carry trade positions to unwind.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Ethereum Proposal to Slash Staking Rewards Sparks Backlash

Published

on

Ethereum Proposal to Slash Staking Rewards Sparks Backlash

A group of six Ethereum researchers and developers, including Ethereum Foundation’s Justin Drake, has proposed changing the network’s issuance policy to cut validator rewards more sharply as the proportion of staked ETH rises. 

The draft, called the Tapered Issuance Burn and currently being assigned the provisional number EIP-8363, would burn an increasing fraction of validators’ consensus rewards as the amount of staked ETH approaches a fixed threshold of 60.25 million ETH (around 50% of the current ETH supply), at which point the deduction hits 100%. The changes would phase in over 18 months. 

Tapered Issuance Burn Ethereum Improvement Proposal. Source: Github

The proposal has triggered backlash from developers, stakers and DeFi founders, who warn that the reward cuts could force out solo validators before larger institutions are affected, weaken institutional demand for ETH, and disrupt DeFi markets built around staking yield. 

Advertisement

One of the proposal’s authors, Jérôme de Tychey, said the changes are needed to address the rising share of Ether being staked, which passed 33% in April. The authors argue continued staking growth could concentrate ETH in large custodians and liquid staking providers, while unchecked issuance erodes Ether’s role as a neutral, trustless store of value. 

“Ever-growing issuance is a dilution tax on every holder: stake, or be diluted. At high ratios, LSTs and other staking derivatives displace raw ETH as the ecosystem’s working money, thus swapping the most neutral, trustless asset for intermediated claims on issuers,” he said.

Although EIP-8363 remains an early draft, its publication just two days before a deadline for proposals targeting Ethereum’s Hegotá upgrade has also raised concerns about whether there is enough time to consider the impacts on Ethereum’s tokenomics.

EIP-8363 authors’ argument to cut issuance 

The proposal’s authors argue that under the current curve, staking yield never drops below 1.5% even with all ETH in existence being staked. 

Advertisement

“The incentive to stake never switches off. Where does it stop? It doesn’t,” said de Tychey. 

With no changes, a worst-case scenario could see more than 55% of Ethereum supply locked in staking by 2028, he said. 

“Maximal neutrality & minimal dilution: those are the two fundamentals of a store of value. This EIP not only hardens both, it sets a bar no other blockchain clears.” 

The proposed policy would see issuance peak at 0.5% of ETH supply per year at its highest (around 20% of ETH is staked), declining to zero when the staking ratio of Ethereum hits the 60.25 million ETH threshold. 

Advertisement

Related: Ethereum treasury firms lean on staking as ETF pressure builds: Report

“ETH supply growth will be bounded and more predictable. Combined with the EIP-1559 and Blob burn, the supply will more often decrease. Ethereum, the most mature of all the protocols, with a sustainable security budget, will also be the least dilutive of all protocols,” said de Tychey.

The proposal’s broader direction has also received support from Grayscale. In May, Grayscale’s head of research Zach Pandl said limiting staking incentives would be “positive for the price of Ether over time.”

Critics say it’s punishing Ethereum’s growth

Aave founder Stani Kulechov said reducing staking rewards would weaken institutional demand for ETH and borrowing activity across DeFi, arguing the proposal “doesn’t achieve the outcome it tries to achieve and is actually hurtful for Ethereum.” 

Advertisement

Another argument is that the proposal would impact solo validators as they have generally higher relative costs and are more susceptible to reward changes, leading to a more concentrated validator set. 

“This will self evidently push out solo stakers who aren’t subsidized by the EF or others,” said Mike Silagadze, CEO of Ether.Fi. 

“It will essentially guarantee that the only ones staking are large centralized entities with zero cost of capital where users passively hold their ETH.”

De Tychey disputed this point, saying on the Ethereum Magicians forum that users of large staking providers must pay fees, making those services less attractive as rewards fall, though he acknowledged the research on this is still contested. 

Advertisement

The proposed network update will lower ETH issuance and inflation. Source: Zach Pandl

Others pointed to the seemingly rushed timeline to consider the proposal, though this appears to be due to confusion over the upcoming deadline on Aug. 6. 

“This clearly doesn’t leave adequate time for community review of a monetary policy change of this magnitude,” said Greg Koumoutsos, a co-author of EIP-8148 and EIP-8205.

Where the proposal currently stands

The Tapered Issuance Burn proposal has not been approved, scheduled or included in Hegotá.

Advertisement

While there is an Aug. 6 deadline relating to this proposal, the deadline is for pull requests proposing additional EIPs for Hegotá, not a deadline for deciding which proposals will be included. 

Ethereum community organizer Trent Van Epps said the selection process could continue until Nov. 8, and that Hegotá is likely to reach mainnet in the second quarter of 2027.

Magazine: The 100x obsession: Fundamentals grow in importance as crypto matures

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Crypto World

Ex-Fbi Agent’s Ai-Assisted Retirement Plan Lands Him In Federal Custody

Published

on

Crypto Breaking News

A former FBI supervisory agent stole roughly $1 million in cryptocurrency and consulted ChatGPT on how to use the funds and relocate to Europe.

Federal investigators charged Patrick Steven Yaroch with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods after he allegedly confessed to stealing cryptocurrency from wallets linked to FBI investigations between late 2024 and early 2025.

Former FBI Agent In Custody

Yaroch allegedly stole the cryptocurrency from wallets described in court documents as “adversarial cryptocurrency accounts.” The former agent was arrested on Friday after confessing to the theft.

According to an affidavit filed on August 1, Yaroch discovered private keys that allowed him to access and transfer funds from the wallets to himself. The transfers were completed through a dozen transfers between late 2024 and early 2025.

Advertisement

Prosecutors stated that Yaroch contacted an employee of the United States Department of Justice and requested a meeting to discuss personal matters. However, during the meeting, held at FBI headquarters, he broke down and admitted to accessing the FBI’s systems to obtain the cryptocurrency.

“During the afternoon of July 28, 2026, Yaroch contacted DOJ Employee 1 via Signal and requested to meet to discuss personal matters. Upon meeting DOJ Employee 1 at FBI headquarters, Yaroch immediately started to break down as he told his story.”

Yaroch allegedly told the DOJ employee he had made “some very poor decisions related to cryptocurrency wallets.” He added that he was frustrated because he was “unable to do more to stop people connected to an adversarial nation from using cryptocurrency.” However, prosecutors have alleged he transferred the assets for his personal benefit outside authorized seizure or forfeiture processes, and mixed the cryptocurrency with his personal funds. Yaroch’s crypto holdings eventually totaled nearly $1 million, and investigators searching his home seized a Trezor hardware wallet and handwritten seed phrases.

They also discovered $188,570 in a Kraken account, including $166,000 in USD, $18,000 in USDC, and small holdings of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Yaroch had also transferred $1.02 million into a Suilend account on July 23.

Advertisement

ChatGPT Conversations

Investigators stated that Yaroch turned to ChatGPT to figure out how to use the funds, including questions about how he could invest a million dollars and maximize profits and returns. He also asked the AI about leaving the US and settling in a European country.

Investigators also discovered queries regarding visa requirements and an email draft about job opportunities in Greece. They also discovered details of a planned trip to Portugal, related power-of-attorney documents, and evidence of unreported foreign travel.

When presented with the details, Yaroch said he wasn’t planning to funnel money to Portugal, and that his family had planned a trip to the country to meet friends. The complaint states, “FBI WF Agents mentioned to Yaroch that they located the power of attorney forms for Portugal. Yaroch stated he was not planning to funnel money into Portugal. Yaroch told FBI WF Agents that his family had a trip planned to Portugal in September 2026 to meet friends. Yaroch realized he might not be able to attend the trip but stated he hoped his wife and child would still go on the trip.”

Crypto Under Scrutiny

The incident comes at a time when crypto is under intense scrutiny after a wave of security incidents. Coldcard was hit by a major exploit after a 2021 firmware bug bypassed its hardware wallet’s random number generator, allowing hackers to remotely drain $89 million in Bitcoin.

Advertisement

Ostium’s off-chain infrastructure was also compromised after an attacker manipulated BTC-USD price reports, draining 23.75 million in USDC from its liquidity vault.

However, Yaroch’s case is one of alleged insider theft by a supervisory special agent working at the FBI headquarters’ Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Greta Gerwig on How She Chooses Projects That Excite Her

Published

on

The iconic red rectangular TIME logo with the word 'TIME' in white, bold, uppercase serif letters.

The 40-year-old director became the first person to have her first three solo feature films—Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie—each nominated for “Best Picture” at the Academy Awards. The key to a Gerwig film, she says, has to do with her decision to take on ambitious projects, a topic which she expounded on before discussing the possibility of a Barbie sequel.

“Sometimes, because I write and direct, I write things that I genuinely sit back and think, ‘I have no idea how I’m actually going to accomplish that.’ And that’s actually the most exciting feeling. Because then you can gather people— gather your designers, your heads of departments—and everybody kind of figures out something that’s never been done before. And that’s thrilling.”

Gerwig said that when she works on a film she has to find an “undertow.” For Barbie, the undertow was the intergenerational struggle behind the doll. “I remember going to Toys R Us and looking at the Barbies, and I loved their hair. And I loved everything about them. And my mom was not sure about it. And I thought that’s the story,” Gerwig says. A sequel to the film would be dependent on her finding a similar element.

Gerwig remains tight-lipped about how that dynamic will manifest in her forthcoming adaptation of the Chronicles of Narnia—“that’s just for me,” she jokingly says—but does share that it would be an honor to work with the Barbie cast and crew again.

Advertisement

For now, she says she’s choosing to focus on the other joys in life, monumentally her family, but also more trivial matters.

When asked what she wants her future self to remember about this moment in her life, Gerwig said, “I hope that the thing I remember is how amazing and fun it is,” before adding, “and how—and this sounds totally superficial but you know, when you go to these events and you put on clothes and part of me is like, ‘I don’t know’—I looked great.”

“That’s sort of a hard thing to feel all the time, and I think when I’m 80, I’ll be like, ‘Look at you! You’re 40! You look wonderful.’”

TIME Women of the Year was sponsored by P&G, Rolex, Ray Ban-Meta, Donna Karan New York, FIJI Water, Campari, and Mattel.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Whale Rock’s AI Bet Turns Volatile: July Losses Erase Half of 2026 Gains

Published

on

Having recently added SanDisk to its holdings, the stock is down 30% in the last month.

Whale Rock Capital Management’s flagship hedge fund fell 21.7% in July. The drop cut its 2026 gains roughly in half as artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks sold off.

Whale Rock’s year-to-date return dropped to 35.1% through July. That’s down from 72.5% at the end of June, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Alex Sacerdote runs the Boston-based, $19 billion firm.

A Rough Month for AI Stockpickers

Whale Rock’s long-only fund fell 18.8% in July but still holds a 36.8% gain for the year. The firm marks its 20th anniversary in 2026. It rode a chipmaker rally through the first half of the year, but conditions reversed sharply in July.

Regulatory filings show Whale Rock added to its stakes in SanDisk and Bloom Energy during the first quarter. Both names tumbled in July alongside CoreWeave. All three fell victim to a broader memory sector selloff that hit chip and AI infrastructure stocks hardest.

Advertisement
Having recently added SanDisk to its holdings, the stock is down 30% in the last month.
Having recently added SanDisk to its holdings, the stock is down 30% in the last month. Image Source: Trading View

The damage spread beyond semiconductors. Mega-cap names like Google and Meta also saw minor declines in July. Meanwhile, investors grew wary of continued AI spending. That concern echoes a broader warning that the market now trades as one AI bet.

Not the AI Industry’s Only Casualty

Whale Rock wasn’t alone in taking a hit. Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness fund posted a 67% loss last month. That marked the sharpest hedge fund drawdown of July, following a forced unwind of its stock book.

The reversal fits a pattern playing out across Wall Street’s AI trade this summer. Some strategists compare it to the dot-com era. Others, however, see the pullback as a buying opportunity, not the start of a longer bust.

Whale Rock’s August performance may hinge on the current earnings season. Investor sentiment toward AI infrastructure spending will likely decide whether the fund stabilizes or extends July’s losses.

The post Whale Rock’s AI Bet Turns Volatile: July Losses Erase Half of 2026 Gains appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Institutions Now Drive 72% of Crypto’s OTC Flow, Wintermute Data Shows

Published

on

MicroStrategy CEO: Wall Street’s Biggest Banks are Locked in a Tight Bitcoin Race

Institutional investors accounted for a record 72% of spot trading volume on Wintermute’s over-the-counter desk in the first half of 2026, up from 59% a year earlier. The shift marks the clearest sign yet that Wall Street, not retail traders, now sets the pace of crypto markets.

Wintermute’s OTC flow report ties the change to a prolonged bear market that pushed retail traders toward equities instead. That absence gave institutional flow more weight in shaping prices.

Wall Street’s Growing Crypto Footprint

Hedge funds, digital asset treasuries (DATs), asset managers, and family offices drove that 72% share. Wintermute called it the highest level on record.

The figure compares with 61% in the second half of 2025 and 59% in the first half of that year.

“At three quarters of volume, institutional flow defines market structure.”

Wintermute linked that dominance directly to falling volatility. Bitcoin’s (BTC) realized volatility has roughly halved across market cycles, sliding from about 70% to 45%.

Institutions increasingly sit through price swings instead of chasing them, and that patience helps explain the drop.

This concentration builds on a trend BeInCrypto has tracked before. Institutional crypto bets have narrowed toward Bitcoin, Ethereum and a handful of select DeFi names, rather than spreading across the long tail of smaller tokens.

Advertisement

Institutions Move Faster Than Retail in Crypto

Institutions and retail traders both pile into a token once its volume and price surge. However, the difference lies in how long each side stays.

Institutional activity typically fades within a day of a rally. Retail traders remain active for about three days.

Retail now makes up a smaller share of the market overall. That mismatch means altcoin momentum can fade faster than it did in past cycles.

Advertisement

Derivatives and Tokenization Pick Up the Slack

Institutional activity did not stop at spot trading. Altcoin options volume on Wintermute’s OTC desk grew roughly 3.4 times over the past year. The rise ran from the second half of 2025 into the first half of 2026.

The trend started as a yield trade in major tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH). It has since moved down the curve into altcoins.

Yield-seeking flow tends to dampen price swings rather than amplify them. Wintermute said that effect, long visible in Bitcoin and Ethereum, is now reaching altcoins too.

Meanwhile, tokenized real-world assets (RWA) are crypto tokens that represent ownership of off-chain assets like bonds or real estate. That sector grew nearly 50% to $31 billion in the first half of 2026.

Advertisement

That fits a broader trend. Tokenized assets have emerged as one of the market’s few growth pockets even as trading volumes elsewhere softened.

What It Means for Altcoin Season

Wintermute frames the shift simply. The market increasingly reflects its dominant participant. It is patient, selective in tokens, and inclined toward derivatives rather than spot trades.

Retail traders still spread their activity across a much wider set of assets than institutions do. If institutional flow keeps setting the market’s direction, the next rally may reward fewer winners than past cycles did.

The post Institutions Now Drive 72% of Crypto’s OTC Flow, Wintermute Data Shows appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Strategy Offloads 1,638 BTC For $105M, Buys Back $81.2M In STRC

Published

on

Crypto Breaking News

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy sold another tranche of Bitcoin (BTC) last week, according to an 8-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million, using the proceeds to fund dividend obligations and repurchase STRC stock. The sale reduces the company’s total holdings to 842,138 BTC.

Strategy Selling Bitcoin Again

Strategy sold the Bitcoin (BTC) at an average sale price of $63,957, significantly lower than the average acquisition cost of $75,419. The company now holds 842,138 BTC, worth $52.6 billion at current prices. Strategy used the proceeds from the sale toward preferred stock dividend obligations and repurchased $52.3 million worth of Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC).

Monday’s 8-K filing also revealed that Strategy sold 3,011,361 MSTR shares, raising $290.6 million from the sale. The company used the proceeds to increase its USD reserve to $4 billion and repurchase $28.9 million of STRC. The remaining $11.7 million was redirected toward its cash balance. The company has $22.7 billion worth of MSTR shares available for issuance and sale as of August 2, 2026.

Advertisement

Strategy’s Bitcoin stash carries almost $11 billion in paper losses

Another Cryptic Saylor Post

Saylor took to X on Sunday, posting a Strategy Bitcoin tracker chart with the caption “Bitcoin Drive engaged.” Saylor’s weekend posts have typically hinted at an imminent BTC buy, but they’ve gotten cryptic in recent weeks as Strategy shifts priorities.

The company’s Digital Credit Capital Framework restricts its USD reserve to preferred stock dividends and interest payments. It also authorized a $1 billion repurchase program and adopted a flexible STRC dividend policy. Strategy also approved a $1 billion common stock buyback program, expanding its Bitcoin monetization program to allow the sale of up to $5 billion in BTC to fund its reserve, interest payments, securities repurchase, and dividends.

What Does Strategy Selling Bitcoin Mean For The Market?

Michael Saylor once claimed in February 2024 that he had “no plans to sell any Bitcoin,” calling Strategy’s Bitcoin push “accumulation without an exit.” A lot has changed since that bold claim, with Strategy now selling part of its Bitcoin holdings as STRC, its high-yielding preferred stock takes precedence.

Advertisement

While the sale represents a minuscule fraction of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings, it is significant because the company built its identity around its Bitcoin reserve and is now selling to fund a USD reserve.

According to data from Bitcoin Treasuries, Strategy currently holds 842,138 BTC, purchased for $63.51 billion, at an average cost basis of $75,419. Bitcoin is currently trading around the $64,000 mark, putting Strategy’s position roughly $10 billion in the red. The latest Bitcoin sale left the company with a realized loss of around $20 million.

STRC Taking Precedence

Strategy used $52.3 million out of the $104.73 million raised from its Bitcoin sale, along with a portion of the funds raised by selling its common stock, to purchase $81.2 million in STRC stock. Its USD reserve now holds $4 billion, which will be utilized to meet dividend obligations on STRC. STRC has a 12% annual payout, representing a significant outflow.

Strategy’s USD reserve helps cover its dividend obligations without forced selling of BTC at unfavorable price levels. Repurchasing STRC also helps reduce future dividend obligations while BTC trades at lower levels. While this is rational, it flies in the face of Saylor’s “never sell” claim.

Advertisement

Unsurprisingly, Saylor has come under heavy criticism for Strategy’s recent selling spree. The Strategy co-founder took to X to defend his decision, stating,

“When I say “Never Sell Your Bitcoin,” I speak as one saver to another. I have never sold mine. Not one satoshi. Strategy is a public company, not my wallet. Since 2020, it has disclosed it may buy or sell $BTC to manage capital. Our shared conviction in Bitcoin remains unchanged.”

However, the argument faced intense backlash, with Peter Schiff responding,

“You knew the impression you were creating, and you never bothered to clarify it. So either that was a deliberate attempt to deceive, or you actually meant that Strategy would never sell.”

Advertisement

Schiff called STRC an albatross around MSTR’s neck, forcing continued BTC sales and common stock dilution.

“In the past week, @saylor sold 1,638 Bitcoin & more than 3 million $MSTR shares to raise cash and buy back $STRC. This reduced Bitcoin YTD Yield to 3.5%, 74% below its May peak. STRC is now an albatross around MSTR’s neck, ensuring continued Bitcoin sales & common-stock dilution.”

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

TRUMP coin faces SEC fraud probe call after 98% crash

Published

on

Polymarket chart shows the CLARITY Act’s 2026 passage odds falling to an all-time low of 24% by early August.

Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have asked the SEC to investigate whether the TRUMP meme coin facilitated fraud or improper enrichment after its value collapsed 98% from its peak.

Summary

  • Warren and Blumenthal urged the SEC to investigate possible fraud involving the TRUMP token.
  • Nearly 989,000 wallets lost a combined $3.81 billion, according to Nansen data.
  • TRUMP trades near $1.47, down about 98% from its all-time high above $73.
  • The request adds pressure to the CLARITY Act’s unresolved ethics negotiations.

Senators ask SEC to investigate TRUMP coin

Warren and Blumenthal sent a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins asking the agency to determine whether the president-linked token involved illegal fraudulent activity or allowed insiders to obtain improper gains.

“We are concerned that President Trump’s memecoin scheme may constitute an illegal scam,” the lawmakers wrote, according to CNN reporting cited by multiple outlets.

Advertisement

The senators reportedly asked the SEC to examine whether the project operated as a “soft rug pull.” The term describes a situation in which insiders or developers gradually withdraw support or extract value instead of abandoning a project in one sudden move.

Their letter does not establish that fraud occurred. The SEC would need to determine whether federal securities laws apply to the token and whether its promotion, distribution, or trading involved any legal violations.

TRUMP coin investors lost $3.81 billion

The lawmakers cited the scale of investor losses surrounding the Solana-based token, which launched shortly before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Advertisement

Data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen showed that 988,905 of the 1.48 million wallets that purchased TRUMP were carrying losses by the end of June. Their combined losses reached approximately $3.81 billion.

Trump reported earning about $636 million from the meme coin, while his wider crypto-related income exceeded $1.4 billion in 2025, according to financial disclosures reported by US media. Those figures have intensified questions about whether a sitting president should benefit from digital assets while shaping federal crypto policy.

TRUMP traded near $1.47 on Aug. 4, with a market capitalization of approximately $366 million and daily volume near $159 million, according to CoinMarketCap. Its price has fallen roughly 98% from an all-time high of $73.43, although the token was slightly higher over the previous 24 hours.

CLARITY Act ethics dispute remains unresolved

The SEC request comes as senators remain divided over an ethics provision in the CLARITY Act, a broader bill intended to establish US rules for digital asset markets.

Advertisement

As crypto.news reported on Aug. 4, the White House had not responded to a bipartisan counterproposal from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego. The compromise would allow state attorneys general to sue the Department of Justice if it failed to enforce restrictions on crypto activity involving federal officials.

Democrats opposed an earlier version that left enforcement solely with the DOJ. Warren has argued that passing the bill without stronger safeguards could expand conflicts of interest tied to Trump’s crypto businesses.

The delay pushed Polymarket’s estimated chance of the legislation becoming law in 2026 to an all-time low of 24%. The measure must still pass the Senate and resolve any differences with the House before reaching Trump’s desk.

Polymarket chart shows the CLARITY Act’s 2026 passage odds falling to an all-time low of 24% by early August.
Source: Polymarket

Senate faces wider fight over developer protections

The ethics dispute is not the only issue slowing the CLARITY Act. The Blockchain Association sent an eight-page letter to Senate leaders on Aug. 3 disputing claims from the National Sheriffs’ Association that the latest draft creates broad exemptions from anti-money laundering rules.

The trade group argued that Section 10604 protects developers who create neutral software without controlling customer assets or transactions. It said intermediaries that exercise control would remain subject to the Bank Secrecy Act, sanctions and anti-money laundering requirements. The Blockchain Association’s response also rejected the view that earning revenue alone makes a developer a financial institution.

Advertisement

The Senate ended Monday without taking action on the bill, leaving it without a publicly announced vote as lawmakers approach the August recess. Warren and Blumenthal’s request could now place the TRUMP coin and presidential crypto conflicts more firmly at the center of those negotiations.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Crypto World

SpaceX earnings test AI ambitions after 50% stock drop

Published

on

SpaceX goes on-chain as SPCX launches on Solana

SpaceX shares rebounded ahead of the company’s first quarterly report since its June IPO, as investors looked beyond an expected $1.9 billion loss toward its AI infrastructure plans and Starlink growth.

Summary

  • SpaceX is expected to report $6.8 billion in quarterly revenue and a $1.9 billion loss.
  • Bernstein maintained its Outperform rating and $239 price target before the results.
  • SPCX remains more than 50% below its $225.64 high despite its latest rebound.
  • Investors are watching Starship reuse, Starlink growth, and AI computing demand for signs of long-term value.

SpaceX earnings put AI strategy in focus

SpaceX is scheduled to publish its second-quarter results after the U.S. market closes on Tuesday, marking its first earnings report as a public company.

Analysts expect the company to post revenue of about $6.8 billion and a net loss near $1.9 billion. Starlink growth is expected to offset some of the losses from SpaceX’s launch and artificial intelligence operations, according to estimates cited by CBS News.

Advertisement

The headline financial figures may receive less attention than management’s outlook for AI infrastructure. SpaceX has been developing plans to deploy space-based data centers, which would use satellite networks to provide computing capacity.

The company’s AI strategy also includes terrestrial infrastructure agreements. Anthropic agreed to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for computing capacity, although the arrangement was expected to generate lower payments during its initial ramp-up period, Axios reported.

Investors will want details about when these contracts will contribute materially to revenue and whether they can offset the high spending required to expand computing capacity.

Advertisement

Bernstein keeps $239 target despite SpaceX stock slide

Bernstein SocGen Group maintained an Outperform rating and a $239 price target on SpaceX ahead of the report. That target implies substantial upside from the stock’s recent trading range.

The firm identified rapid Starship reuse as the most important factor supporting SpaceX’s long-term valuation. A reusable Starship system could lower the cost of deploying the satellites needed for orbital data centers and expand the company’s launch capacity.

Bernstein also identified semiconductor supply, regulatory approvals, and continued demand for computing power as major risks. These issues could determine how quickly SpaceX can develop its planned satellite-based AI network.

Competition from China, Starlink’s international broadband expansion, and the company’s direct-to-device mobile business remain other considerations. However, Bernstein said those areas are secondary to SpaceX’s ability to execute its AI infrastructure strategy.

Advertisement

The company’s first public earnings call could provide investors with clearer timelines for Starship development, satellite deployments, and capital spending.

SPCX stock targets $124 after its rebound

As reported by crypto.news, SPCX stock traded around $119.71 after gaining 4.6%, extending its recovery from a recent low near $105. The rebound came after the shares lost more than half their value from a 52-week high of $225.64.

Holding above $119.34 could allow the stock to challenge $124.15. A move through that level would place $130.67 in focus, followed by higher resistance at $138.63 and $146.58.

Failure to remain above $119.34 could expose the stock to another decline toward $114 and $110. The main downside level remains near $104.91, close to the floor established during the latest sell-off.

Advertisement

Despite the rebound, the broader trend remains weak. SPCX has fallen from above $172 in early July and remains below its June IPO price of $135.

Starlink and Starship could decide what comes next

Starlink remains SpaceX’s strongest operating business and the only segment consistently producing profits. Its broadband subscriber growth will be important because that cash flow helps fund Starship development and the company’s capital-intensive AI expansion.

Wall Street will also examine management’s spending plans. Building computing infrastructure, manufacturing satellites, and testing Starship require substantial capital before they can generate sustainable returns.

For U.S. investors, the report will provide the first detailed test of whether SpaceX’s public valuation can be supported by its operating results. Strong Starlink growth and clearer AI revenue guidance could support the recovery, while higher spending or delays to Starship reuse could renew pressure on SPCX shares.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025