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Bitcoin Miner Squeeze In Focus As Fees Make Up Under 0.7% Of Revenue

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Bitcoin Miner Squeeze In Focus As Fees Make Up Under 0.7% Of Revenue

Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees now account for just 0.69% of miner revenue as major players pivot to AI.

Key points:

  • Bitcoin miners now rely on block subsidies more than at any time in the past decade, data shows.
  • Bitcoin hash rate has declined by 33% since October 2025.
  • Analysts warn that miners switching to AI could affect the network.

Bitcoin miner fee revenue share returns to 2016 levels

Data from onchain analytics platform Glassnode shows that fees as a proportion of miner revenue remain near decade lows after falling to just 0.52% in April.

Miners face ongoing pressure as declining Bitcoin prices and rising electricity costs squeeze profits and force smaller players out of the market. Glassnode co-founder Rafael Schultze-Kraft noted that fees had made up less than 1% of miner revenue for almost a year.

“Bitcoin was below $400 the last time fee share was this low,” he said on X. 

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Bitcoin fees as a portion of miner revenue. Source: Rafael Schultze-Kraft on X.com

When transaction fee revenue drops, miners increasingly depend on the fixed block subsidy for income — the amount of newly minted BTC awarded for each mined block, currently 3.125 BTC. Bitcoin’s value has fallen nearly 50% since its October 2025 all-time high, dragging down the US dollar value of the block subsidy and further squeezing miners’ profit margins.

The latest data from onchain analytics resource Checkonchain puts the estimated average cost of producing one Bitcoin at $78,254 as of Tuesday — almost 23% above the current spot price.

Bitcoin estimated average production cost. Source: Checkonchain

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Bitcoin’s network hash rate, an estimated measure of the computing power securing the network, reflects a mining sector in flux. Hash rate has declined from its October 2025 peak of 1.3 zettahashes per second (ZH/s) to 861 exahashes per second (EH/s), Checkonchain shows — a drop of 33%. 

Bitcoin hash rate net position change. Source: Checkonchain

Analyst: AI pivot is “concerning development”

In analysis published at the weekend, independent analyst William Clemente acknowledged the downturn, while noting that miners would have been incentivized to boost activity through automated difficulty readjustments. With difficulty itself now rising again, miners’ shift toward more lucrative AI computing has become conspicuous.

Related: Bitcoin sell pressure ‘closer to exhaustion’ after $4B USDT market-cap drop: CryptoQuant

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“There is no other way to slice it, hash rate has been in a decline. This has taken place as miner margins got squeezed post 2022 from more competition are higher energy prices, but more importantly the pivot of many into AI/HPC, which so far have shown to be prudent business decisions for the public names that have done it,” he wrote.

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin miner CleanSpark recently refocused on AI, switching to operating data centers after missing profit targets. Another miner, Keel Infrastructure, shut down all its US mining operations after revenue fell 50% in the second quarter.

“This dynamic has been reinforced as Bitcoin has underperformed AI related assets & the rate of change in demand for compute,” Clemente added.

Charles Edwards, founder of hedge fund and AI platform Capriole Investments, directly linked the drop in hash rate to public miners’ AI pivot.

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“This is the least talked about, concerning Bitcoin development in 2026,” he argued on X, noting that the trend had accelerated since April.

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RedotPay and Binance Spar Over Singapore Lawsuit in $473M Dispute

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Crypto Breaking News

Binance and stablecoin payments card issuer RedotPay are trading competing narratives over whether a Singapore legal case tied to their wider dispute is set to end after a hearing on Aug. 7. RedotPay says it expects Binance to discontinue the proceedings, while Binance insists it is not withdrawing its claims.

The disagreement is the latest turn in a broader legal battle involving Binance-affiliated entities and RedotPay, which also includes a separate Hong Kong lawsuit seeking close to $473 million in damages.

Key takeaways

  • RedotPay expects Binance to discontinue a Singapore case after an Aug. 7 hearing and plans to pursue legal costs.
  • Binance says reports about it withdrawing Singapore claims are false and that it is continuing to press its case.
  • The Singapore dispute sits within a larger conflict that includes a Hong Kong lawsuit alleging diversion of Binance Card users.
  • The cases hinge on the terms of the Binance Pay–RedotPay relationship and whether card funding was used outside agreement scope.

Dispute over whether Singapore proceedings will be dropped

In comments to Cointelegraph on Tuesday, a spokesperson for RedotPay said the company expects Binance to discontinue the Singapore proceedings following the Aug. 7 hearing. RedotPay added that it would “be seeking legal costs arising from the discontinuance of the matter from the claimant,” while the parties would attempt to agree on costs.

Binance, however, rejected that characterization. A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “Reports that Binance will be withdrawing its Singapore claims are false.” The spokesperson added that Binance has not abandoned its claims and said it has informed both the court and RedotPay accordingly.

For market participants tracking crypto-related litigation, the immediate practical implication is uncertainty over process and timelines. Even if a party seeks to end one track of litigation, the question of who bears legal costs—and whether claims persist in the background—can affect strategy and leverage in the parallel Hong Kong matter.

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How the legal fight expanded to multiple jurisdictions

According to earlier reporting by Bloomberg on Aug. 5, Binance-affiliated plaintiffs brought proceedings connected to the RedotPay business in Hong Kong. Bloomberg reported that Nest Trading, DistributedTechnologies and Chaintecs Consulting Singapore filed a petition in Hong Kong involving RedotPay co-founders.

Cointelegraph previously detailed the core allegations as well: the Hong Kong plaintiffs claim RedotPay diverted more than 470,000 Binance Card users by allowing Binance Pay funds to be used for stablecoin card top-ups outside the terms of a commercial agreement. They put their estimated damages at $472.8 million, based on a claimed lifetime customer value of $925 per user.

In parallel, Chaintecs brought related proceedings against RedotPay affiliates in Singapore, where a hearing was scheduled for Aug. 7. The existence of a Singapore hearing indicates the dispute has been actively litigated rather than merely threatened, which makes the latest exchange between the parties—over discontinuance versus continuation—material for observers.

What RedotPay says it was doing—and what Binance says it violates

RedotPay has denied what it described as “unfounded allegations” made against the company and its co-founders. In its communications to Cointelegraph, the company said it would defend the claims through the legal process.

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The commercial relationship at the center of the litigation began in December 2023, when RedotPay announced its Binance Pay partnership. Under that arrangement, Binance Pay users could make direct deposits to RedotPay cards.

Binance later ended support for the integration as of April 3, 2026, citing a review of merchant partners. That withdrawal occurred months before the legal fight became widely public, suggesting the dispute has continued to develop independently of whether the integration was still active.

Crucially, the competing positions are not simply about whether RedotPay could provide card top-ups, but whether the use of Binance Pay funds fell within (or outside) what the parties agreed. The way courts interpret “terms of a commercial agreement” is often determinative in crypto platform and fintech disputes, particularly where multiple payment rails, intermediaries, or tokenized balances are involved.

What to watch after the Aug. 7 hearing

While RedotPay says it expects Binance to discontinue the Singapore proceedings, Binance’s spokesperson says the company is not abandoning its claims. The discrepancy means the next filings and court actions will matter more than either side’s statements in the short term.

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If the Singapore case is indeed discontinued, RedotPay’s intention to pursue legal costs could become a focal point—especially if Binance contests costs or argues that discontinuance does not reflect wrongdoing. If Binance instead continues to litigate, it could signal that the company intends to maintain pressure on RedotPay in multiple venues simultaneously.

Either way, readers should pay close attention to how the Singapore track evolves alongside the Hong Kong case seeking nearly $473 million. With both proceedings tied to alleged user diversion connected to the Binance Pay–RedotPay setup, developments in one jurisdiction can influence negotiation posture in the other, even if legal standards and procedures differ.

For now, the main unknown is whether Binance’s position will translate into continued court steps in Singapore or whether RedotPay’s expected discontinuance plays out in formal filings—an outcome that will also shape the parties’ leverage and cost exposure across the wider $473 million dispute.

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

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America doesn’t need a second-class payments system

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America doesn’t need a second-class payments system

The Federal Reserve payment system is a walled garden, and rightly so; there are serious risks to opening access to unregulated or underregulated entities. But the walls should be drawn around prudent regulation, not arbitrary criteria. Fed membership should automatically mean access to Fed payment rails. Otherwise, if you build the walls in the wrong place, innovation will go offshore into foreign jurisdictions, beyond the reach of any U.S. regulator.

FDIC insurance is one of those arbitrary lines. Some point to its absence as a reason to hesitate, but that confuses two different risks. FDIC insurance protects against the risk created when a bank lends out client deposits, a risk inapplicable to a fully reserved custodial bank like Anchorage Digital Bank. Even stablecoin issuance, which more national trust banks are doing, is effectively full-reserve banking. Every stablecoin is always backed 100% by reserves, there is no fractional reserve banking being done, no asset-liability mismatch, and the risk to capital is fundamentally different. Federal Reserve Payment rail access should reflect actual risk, not assumptions carried over from a different banking model. Those differences should be reflected in how payment access is evaluated.

What is missing is not more studies to summarize longstanding banking law, but a published, uniform standard, applied the same way across the Federal Reserve’s system, so that similarly regulated banks get full access to Federal Reserve master accounts. Without them, institutions that took the harder path of federal oversight may still find themselves locked out of the very system they were regulated to join.

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Stock Market Today: Dow Rises On CPI Inflation Report; Nvidia Partner CoreWeave Soars

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Stock Market Today: Dow Down After Surprise Jobs Reading; Cloudflare Soars

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the other major stock indexes traded higher Wednesday, as Wall Street reacted to a key inflation report. Meanwhile, Nvidia (NVDA) partner CoreWeave (CRWV) was a big earnings winner on the stock market today. Ahead of Wednesday’s open, Dow futures rose 0.3%, as S&P 500 futures moved up 0.4%. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.8%…

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CPI Inflation Data Cools As Expected, May Keep Fed Rate Hikes On Hold (Live Coverage)

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Federal Reserve Building stock market

Consumer price index data largely matched expectations of a retreating inflation threat but may keep alive the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September following Friday’s weak July jobs reports. Ahead of the report, odds of a tightening stood just below 50%. Technology goods were among the categories seeing firmer prices, thanks partly to Apple (AAPL). S&P 500…

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US Inflation Meets Forecasts, Keeping Bitcoin’s Fed Bet Alive

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US Inflation Meets Forecasts, Keeping Bitcoin’s Fed Bet Alive

The latest U.S. inflation data landed exactly where economists expected, removing the immediate risk of an upside surprise and leaving cryptocurrency investors focused on what the Federal Reserve does next.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year-over-year in July, matching consensus estimates while slowing from June’s 3.5%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also met expectations at 2.5% year-over-year, down from 2.6% previously.

Inflation Meets Expectations

Markets entered the release treating July’s CPI report as one of the most important macroeconomic events before the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting.

Economists broadly expected headline inflation to cool to 3.4%, while core inflation was forecast to ease to 2.5% after June’s surprisingly soft report. The data ultimately delivered exactly that outcome, suggesting inflation continues to moderate without producing another significant downside surprise.

Because the figures aligned with expectations, investors are likely to shift their attention from the headline numbers toward what they mean for future monetary policy rather than reacting to an unexpected inflation shock.

Fed Outlook Remains the Main Driver

The inflation report arrives as investors remain divided over whether the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged or deliver another quarter-point increase at its September meeting.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has repeatedly emphasized that policy decisions will remain data dependent while reaffirming the central bank’s commitment to returning inflation to its 2% target. Recent weakness in the U.S. labor market has already reduced expectations for another rate hike, making inflation reports increasingly important for policymakers.

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An in-line CPI reading neither strengthens nor weakens the case for immediate policy tightening, keeping markets focused on upcoming economic releases before the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Bitcoin Awaits the Market’s Next Move

For cryptocurrency markets, inflation data often influences expectations for interest rates, Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar—all major drivers of digital asset prices.

Leading into Wednesday’s report, traders viewed a hotter-than-expected inflation reading as a potential catalyst for renewed rate hike expectations and pressure on Bitcoin. Conversely, a softer print was expected to reinforce the view that the Fed could remain on hold, supporting risk assets.

Instead, the consensus outcome leaves investors waiting for the broader market reaction as Treasury yields, the dollar and Fed pricing adjust to inflation that continues to cool but remains above the central bank’s long-term target.

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What’s Next?

With July CPI now behind markets, investor attention shifts to incoming economic data and evolving expectations ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. For Bitcoin and the wider crypto market, the next major catalyst will likely be whether future inflation and labor market reports strengthen the case for holding rates steady or revive expectations of another hike. As long as inflation continues to move broadly in line with forecasts, monetary policy—not inflation surprises—is likely to remain the dominant driver of crypto market sentiment.

The post US Inflation Meets Forecasts, Keeping Bitcoin’s Fed Bet Alive appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Chicago Fed President Flags Inflation Concerns, Rate Hike On The Cards

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Crypto Breaking News

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee has flagged high inflation as a major challenge for the US. Inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

The Fed held interest rates steady in July. However, three officials dissented and backed a 25-basis point rate hike.

Inflation Is The Biggest Problem

Goolsbee stated during an interview with Wired that rising prices are the biggest problem confronting the US, calling them more damaging than current labor-market conditions.

“The biggest problem facing our economy right now is not the collapse of industry and the collapse of jobs; it’s that the prices have been rising too fast. We have an inflation problem, and people hate inflation.”

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Goolsbee also discussed employment and called the labor market “stable without being good,” highlighting the unemployment rate, hiring, and layoffs as key factors behind his reasoning. The Chicago Fed Chair suggested that market conditions have weakened but do not require the Federal Reserve’s immediate attention.

Inflation has remained higher than the Fed’s 2% target despite lower month-on-month price increases. June Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.4%, while annual inflation dropped from 4.2% to 3.5%. Core CPI, which omits food and energy, remained unchanged in June but increased 2.6% from the previous year.

However, Goolsbee has not indicated whether he would support a rate hike at September’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. While the Chicago Fed President is not voting on monetary policy, his observations could fuel an ongoing debate around rate hikes among regional Fed Chairs.

Policymakers Divided Over Rate Hike

Policymakers are deeply divided over interest rate hikes. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged following the July FOMC meeting, with Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lorie Logan dissenting in favor of a 25-basis point increase. Kashkari, the Minneapolis Fed President, urged the Fed to raise interest rates as high inflation, combined with the ongoing US-Iran conflict, has complicated the policy outlook. He added that the uncertainty prevents the Federal Reserve from issuing firm guidance or promising rate cuts.

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Kashkari also warned that high oil prices could impact American households and businesses, adding that there was no certainty about when shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz would return to normalcy.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem also supported a rate hike, arguing for pre-emptive measures before inflation pushes even higher. However, he did not cast a dissenting vote. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly supported the Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, stating that more evidence was needed to determine if the increase was temporary or permanent.

Markets Look For Clues

The big question in the market is “will the Fed raise interest rates or leave them unchanged?” According to CME FedWatch, the odds are almost equal. Stubborn inflation and volatile job data have raised market uncertainty ahead of this week’s inflation report. Wednesday’s Consumer Price Report will give market watchers guidance on whether inflation is cooling. Traders expect higher interest rates by the end of the year thanks to US-Iran tensions. However, they are unsure when the Fed may raise rates.

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.

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

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Fidelity’s Ethereum ETF to Offer Staking and Quarterly Cash Payouts: Report

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A new report cited by Wu Blockchain informed that Fidelity, the entity behind the fourth-largest Ethereum ETF by AUM, plans to add staking and quarterly cash distributions to its FETH.

It added that the exchange-traded fund tracking the performance of the largest altcoin can stake up to 100% of its ETH holdings “under normal conditions.”

There will be no minimum requirement, but the fund will retain some ETH for redemptions, expenses, and other liquidity needs. It will retain 85% of gross staking rewards, and the remaining will be paid to the sponsor, custodians, and node operators.

The report further noted that net rewards will first cover fund expenses, with the remainder distributed quarterly in cash. It’s worth noting that the ETF may sell some Ether to fund distributions if necessary, the report concluded.

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Fidelity’s move comes after BlackRock debuted a new staking Ethereum ETF called ETHB in March. The first-day trading volume was north of $15 million and opened with $100 million in assets. ETHB is currently the fifth-largest Ethereum ETF, with $577 million in net assets, according to SoSoValue.

Fidelity’s FETH is a spot above, holding nearly $900 million in net assets under management, while BlackRock’s main fund leads far ahead with $5.6 billion.

Earlier this year, Fidelity tapped Ethereum to launch its own stablecoin called Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), which will be pegged 1:1 to the greenback and backed by reserves.

The post Fidelity’s Ethereum ETF to Offer Staking and Quarterly Cash Payouts: Report appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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An AI Tax Could Be the Great Equalizer America Needs

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An AI Tax Could Be the Great Equalizer America Needs
—Alfieri—Getty Images

An idea that until recently would have been seen as radical—that the public should co-own AI—now commands bipartisan consensus

In June, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the first AI tax in history, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which took up our AI equity tax framework. The bill proposes making the biggest AI companies owe the public half the equity in each company’s AI business, paid in newly issued shares. 

In the weeks since, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and President Donald Trump have scrambled to compete, offering their own visions of an AI sovereign wealth fund, which, unlike a tax, would be voluntarily created through the companies’ partnership with the government. Specifically, the ChatGPT creator is reportedly considering giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company. We believe this approach is a mistake—and a tax is the solution. 

The essential nature of a tax is that it’s mandatory, which is why a tax is the best way to secure the public’s standing as a co-owner of AI. Plus, the public supports an AI equity tax. Last month, a national poll found 69% of Americans in favor of requiring the largest AI companies to transfer half their stock into a public sovereign wealth fund. 

The fight now is over the terms of public co-ownership: how much the public gets, who must deliver it, and whether delivery can be enforced. Altman and Trump are negotiating those terms with each other. Whether the public ever sees any benefit from the equity stake to be taken in its name is what hangs in the balance.

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A deal between Altman and Trump would bind OpenAI to the current administration in the public’s name, at least symbolically. Yet the rights would belong to the administration, and the public would likely have no recourse if a later administration unwound the arrangement. 

That brings us to an idea that until recently would also have been seen as radical: the federal government taking ownership of companies through a tax. 

The Trump Administration has taken equity stakes in more than two dozen companies over the past year. The trend in those deals is that the rights belong to the administration, rather than being directly owed to citizens. And public dollars have to be handed over in exchange for the shares, putting the public on the hook.

Trump’s side of these deals follows a common pattern. His administration negotiates each stake company by company. In the case of Intel, government grants already owed were converted into an equity stake. In a mineral-rights deal, fresh taxpayer money was spent. And now, for something completely different, Trump is making early moves to accept AI stakes as donations. A government stake in AI companies “would be a beautiful thing,” the President says, and would ensure that “the American people can benefit from the success of AI.” Yet across Trump’s equity-acquisition deals, terms are established not by statute but through private negotiations, and the President or his agencies keep the rights.

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Two deals illustrate how this works and why we should be wary. Trump publicly demanded Intel’s chief executive’s resignation. Only weeks later, the administration had its stake, a position that is now worth tens of billions. And as a condition for approval of the Nippon Steel acquisition, the administration took a golden share in U.S. Steel: “I, President Donald J. Trump, hold the Class G Preferred Stock (Golden Share) in U.S. Steel,” the President wrote in the Federal Register. The issue in both of these cases: one person, Trump, wields unprecedented power. 

Altman argues a public stake is “the best way to share the upside of AI.” The company has reportedly proposed giving the administration a 5% stake, structured like the Alaska Permanent Fund and revocable whenever OpenAI chooses. The Financial Times reports the aim: clearing political obstacles by securing the administration’s financial buy-in. It’s a Trojan horse in which no one is fooled except the public. 

We can guess where the public’s best interests could be treated as bargaining chips. OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing IPOs and likely need the administration’s goodwill. OpenAI, for example, is currently under pressure from the government to limit GPT-5.6’s release—a constraint the administration might be persuaded to drop in exchange for a donated equity stake. The administration’s record shows it accepts equity as consideration for looking the other way or relenting. Yet none of these dealings inherently benefit the American public. 

In response, only Sanders has committed to actually issuing payouts to each American. With Sanders’ AI equity tax, there is no question mark about the public benefit of the tax. After all covered AI companies remit half their equity in newly issued shares, a public trust fund holds the shares, and the fund must pay out its returns to the public by statute. According to estimates from Sanders’ office, a 5% annual distribution would be about $1,045 per person per year. Since no public funds are used to buy shares and the bill specifically prohibits public bailouts of covered companies, the US public truly shares in the upside of AI. 

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The outcome of the midterms will likely determine whether Sanders’ AI equity tax advances, and thus the coming months may decide who owns America’s AI future. In the meantime, Trump and Altman may move ahead with their visions. 

In our view, one design courts more corruption and wealth consolidation; the other ensures that, if AI ushers in any prosperity, it will be shared broadly, transparently, and with public accountability.

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Why AI Agents Need Stablecoins

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Why AI Agents Need Stablecoins

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond chatbots and copilots. The next generation of AI systems is increasingly capable of acting on behalf of users—searching for information, purchasing services, managing workflows, executing trades, interacting with applications, and coordinating with other software agents.

But there is one major capability AI agents still need to operate effectively in an increasingly autonomous digital economy: money they can use programmatically.

This is where stablecoins could become especially important.

Unlike traditional bank-based payments, stablecoins can move value directly across blockchain networks, operate 24/7, and be integrated into smart contracts and software applications. For AI agents that need to make frequent, automated, and machine-to-machine payments, these characteristics could make stablecoins a natural financial layer.

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AI Agents Are Becoming Economic Actors

An AI agent is more than a system that generates an answer. An agent can be designed to perceive information, make decisions, use tools, and execute actions with limited human intervention.

Imagine an AI agent managing an online business.

It could:

  • Purchase computing resources when demand increases.
  • Pay another AI agent for specialized data.
  • Subscribe to an API.
  • Purchase advertising services.
  • Pay for storage.
  • Execute transactions according to predefined rules.
  • Receive payments for completing tasks.
  • Exchange one digital asset for another.

Each of these activities requires some form of payment.

If AI agents are expected to operate continuously and independently, relying exclusively on traditional payment systems could introduce significant friction.

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Bank accounts often require identity verification, geographic availability, banking relationships, business accounts, payment processors, and human-controlled authentication. Those requirements make sense for people and companies, but they can become cumbersome when the payer itself is autonomous software.

Stablecoins offer a different model.

Stablecoins Give AI Agents Programmable Money

The defining feature of a stablecoin is relatively simple: it is a blockchain-based token designed to maintain a stable value, typically relative to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar.

For AI agents, the important part isn’t simply the stability.

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It is the combination of stability + programmability + global accessibility.

An AI agent can interact with blockchain infrastructure through software. It can hold digital assets in a wallet, check balances, sign transactions according to its permissions, and interact with smart contracts.

That creates the possibility of a machine-controlled financial account.

Instead of an AI agent saying:

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“I need a human to approve this $5 payment.”

the system could be designed to automatically execute the payment when predefined conditions are satisfied.

For example, an AI research agent might have a wallet funded with $100 in stablecoins. It could spend a maximum of $2 per API request, $10 per day on data, and $25 per week on specialized services.

These rules can potentially be enforced through smart contracts, wallet permissions, spending limits, and other programmable controls.

Machine-to-Machine Payments

One of the most interesting applications is machine-to-machine commerce.

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The internet was originally designed primarily for humans to communicate and transact. AI agents introduce a new possibility: software communicating and transacting with other software.

Consider a network of specialized agents.

One agent performs market research.

Another analyzes financial data.

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A third provides computational resources.

A fourth verifies information.

Instead of every transaction passing through a human-controlled billing process, agents could pay one another directly.

For example:

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Agent A → pays stablecoins → Agent B → receives data → Agent A

The payment could happen automatically based on predefined conditions.

At large scale, this could create a new digital economy where tiny transactions occur continuously between autonomous software systems.

Why Stablecoins Instead of Volatile Crypto?

AI agents need predictable economics.

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Imagine an autonomous agent with a budget of $1,000.

If it holds a highly volatile cryptocurrency, the purchasing power of that budget could change dramatically. A service that costs $20 today might effectively consume substantially more or less of the agent’s available capital tomorrow.

Stablecoins can reduce that problem.

A dollar-denominated stablecoin gives the agent a relatively predictable unit for budgeting, accounting, pricing, and payments.

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That matters particularly for:

  • API usage
  • Cloud computing
  • Data purchases
  • Subscription services
  • Digital labor
  • Advertising
  • Automated commerce
  • Agent-to-agent payments

If AI agents are going to participate in real economic activity, predictability may be more valuable than speculation.

Stablecoins Could Enable Micropayments

Traditional payment infrastructure isn’t always optimized for extremely small, frequent transactions.

Blockchain-based stablecoin payments could potentially support smaller transactions with automated settlement, depending on the network and its transaction costs.

This opens the door to interesting business models.

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An AI agent might pay:

  • $0.01 for a data point
  • $0.05 for a computation
  • $0.10 for an API request
  • $0.50 for a specialized analysis
  • $2 for a completed task

Instead of purchasing a large subscription, an agent could potentially pay precisely for what it consumes.

This could transform the economics of digital services.

Rather than humans subscribing to software, software could dynamically purchase services from other software.

Stablecoins Could Give Agents Global Payment Rails

Another major advantage is geographic reach.

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Traditional financial infrastructure remains fragmented across countries, banks, payment networks, currencies, and regulatory systems.

Stablecoins operate on blockchain networks that can be accessed globally.

For AI agents operating across borders, this could simplify settlement.

An AI company in one country could operate an agent that purchases computing services from another provider, while a third-party agent supplies specialized data from another region.

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Stablecoins could provide a common settlement asset across these interactions.

The AI agent doesn’t necessarily need to understand banking systems in every country.

It simply needs to understand the payment rules of the digital network it operates on.

AI Agents Could Become Their Own Economic Identities

This leads to an even bigger concept.

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Today, an AI agent usually operates under the identity and financial accounts of a person or company.

In the future, agents could potentially have their own cryptographic identities, wallets, permissions, and transaction histories.

That does not necessarily mean an AI becomes a legal person.

Instead, it could mean that an agent becomes a distinct economic software entity.

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For example:

Agent ID: ResearchAgent-204
Wallet: Dedicated blockchain address
Budget: $500/month
Spending limit: $20/transaction
Allowed services: Data + computing
Approval threshold: Human authorization above $20

This structure could make autonomous systems easier to monitor and control.

Blockchain transactions could also provide an auditable record of what the agent spent and where the funds went.

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The Combination of AI + Smart Contracts Is Powerful

AI agents are good at making decisions.

Blockchains and smart contracts are good at executing deterministic rules.

Stablecoins connect the two through money.

That creates a potentially powerful architecture:

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AI → Decision

Smart Contract → Rules

Stablecoin → Value

Blockchain → Settlement

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Consider an autonomous procurement agent.

The AI determines that a company needs additional computing capacity. It compares providers, selects one based on price and performance, and initiates the purchase.

A smart contract could enforce the agreed conditions.

The stablecoin payment could be released when those conditions are satisfied.

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The blockchain records the transaction.

In this model, AI handles the intelligence while blockchain handles coordination, ownership, and settlement.

The Challenges Are Just as Important

Stablecoins are not a magic solution.

AI agents managing money introduce serious risks.

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Security

If an AI-controlled wallet is compromised, attackers could potentially gain access to its funds.

Agents therefore need strong wallet security, permission systems, spending limits, and transaction controls.

Hallucinations and Bad Decisions

An AI agent can make incorrect decisions.

If an agent is allowed to spend money autonomously, an incorrect assumption could become a financial loss.

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This makes human oversight and programmable constraints extremely important.

Smart Contract Risk

Smart contracts can contain vulnerabilities.

An AI agent interacting with poorly designed contracts could potentially expose its funds to unnecessary risks.

Regulatory Uncertainty

Stablecoins operate within an evolving regulatory environment.

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Different jurisdictions may impose different requirements on issuers, users, payment providers, and businesses.

AI agents participating in financial transactions could introduce additional compliance questions.

Privacy

Blockchain transactions can be transparent.

That can be useful for auditing, but it may also expose information about an agent’s activities, counterparties, and spending patterns.

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Future systems may therefore need privacy-preserving technologies alongside transparent settlement.

The Bigger Picture: An Economy of Autonomous Agents

The most important idea isn’t simply that AI agents could use stablecoins.

It is that AI agents could become participants in digital markets.

Imagine millions of specialized agents operating simultaneously.

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Some agents generate content.

Others analyze data.

Some manage logistics.

Others provide computing power.

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Some negotiate prices.

Others verify information.

They could continuously interact, purchase services, sell capabilities, and exchange value.

Humans would still define objectives, budgets, permissions, and constraints—but machines could handle much of the execution.

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Stablecoins could serve as one of the financial primitives that makes this economy possible.

Stablecoins May Become the Financial Language of AI

The next phase of AI may not be defined solely by how intelligent models become.

It could also be defined by what those models are allowed to do.

An AI that can only generate text is powerful.

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An AI that can use tools is more capable.

An AI that can independently coordinate resources, purchase services, and receive payments becomes something fundamentally different: an economic actor operating in the digital world.

Stablecoins could provide the predictable, programmable settlement layer required for that transition.

The combination of AI agents, blockchain networks, smart contracts, and stablecoins could therefore create an entirely new category of machine-driven commerce.

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The future internet may not just connect people.

It may connect agents that work, negotiate, transact, and pay each other around the clock.

And when machines start doing business with machines, they will need money that machines can actually use.

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Crypto World

Uniswap slides 9% as weak retail demand threatens key support

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Uniswap slides 9% as weak retail demand threatens key support

Key takeaways

  • Uniswap falls nearly 6% on Wednesday after declining 5% in the previous session.
  • Uniswap has launched Continuous Clearing Auctions on Avalanche, allowing teams to conduct on-chain token sales and bootstrap liquidity.
  • UNI’s social dominance and volume have fallen sharply, signaling weaker retail attention.

Uniswap (UNI) faces intense selling pressure on Wednesday, falling nearly 9% after recording a 5% decline the previous day.

The pullback comes despite Uniswap’s continued product expansion, including the introduction of Continuous Clearing Auctions on Avalanche. The feature allows blockchain projects to conduct fully on-chain token auctions and establish initial liquidity through Uniswap v4.

However, declining social activity and derivatives demand suggest the launch has not been enough to offset the cryptocurrency market’s broader risk-averse mood.

Continuous clearing auctions launch on Avalanche

Uniswap’s Continuous Clearing Auctions provide Avalanche developers with a new mechanism for launching tokens and bootstrapping liquidity onchain.

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The model is designed to reduce friction during token distribution by allowing teams to conduct auctions transparently through smart contracts. Projects can then connect their newly distributed tokens with Uniswap v4 liquidity.

The launch expands Uniswap’s presence on Avalanche and strengthens its role as infrastructure for token issuance, trading and liquidity management.

It follows the recent launch of the TradePools platform on Robinhood, which allows users to deposit USDC, USDT or ETH in pursuit of yield.

While these developments may support Uniswap’s long-term utility, they have yet to produce a meaningful improvement in near-term demand for UNI.

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Retail interest in Uniswap is weakening as traders prepare for the release of July’s US Consumer Price Index report, scheduled for Wednesday at approximately 12:30 GMT.

The CPI reading could influence the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision and affect demand for risk assets. A hotter-than-expected report could strengthen expectations for tighter monetary policy, while softer inflation could improve sentiment across cryptocurrency markets.

Santiment data shows Uniswap’s social dominance fell to 0.08% on Tuesday from 0.19%. Social volume also declined to 40 from 152.

The sharp contraction indicates that UNI accounts for a smaller share of cryptocurrency discussions and is attracting less attention from retail traders.

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Uniswap’s derivatives market reinforces the decline in retail participation.

CoinGlass data shows UNI futures open interest fell more than 3% over the past 24 hours to $261.60 million. The decline indicates traders are closing positions and reducing their leveraged exposure.

Long liquidations reached $2.88 million during the same period, significantly exceeding short liquidations of just $1,950. The imbalance shows that falling prices have disproportionately forced bullish traders out of their positions.

However, UNI’s open-interest-weighted funding rate improved to 0.0016% from negative 0.0054% the previous day.

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The return to positive funding indicates that the remaining leveraged market carries a slight bullish bias. Still, falling open interest and heavy long liquidations suggest overall sentiment remains fragile.

Uniswap Technical outlook: UNI tests 100-day EMA

Uniswap is testing its 100-day Exponential Moving Average at $3.55, an important near-term support level.

UNI remains below the 50-day EMA at $3.65 and the 200-day EMA at $3.93. These moving averages create overhead resistance and reinforce the prevailing bearish structure.

The Relative Strength Index has declined to 40, placing it below the neutral midpoint of 50 and indicating growing selling momentum. However, the indicator remains above the oversold threshold of 30.

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The Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator has also fallen below its signal line, while its expanding bearish profile suggests downside momentum is strengthening.

A decisive daily close below the 100-day EMA at $3.55 could extend Uniswap’s decline toward the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $3.25. This level is measured from UNI’s advance between $2.31 and $4.57.

UNI/USD 4H Chart

A successful defense of $3.55 could allow buyers to attempt a recovery. However, UNI must reclaim the 50-day EMA at $3.65 to ease immediate selling pressure.

Above that level, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at $3.89 and the 200-day EMA at $3.93 form a significant resistance cluster.

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Until Uniswap recovers above these moving averages with stronger trading activity, the short-term outlook is likely to remain bearish.

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