Kast has launched a stablecoin-based business platform offering accounts, cards, transfers in more than 20 currencies, and returns of up to 8% APY across over 170 countries.

Kast said its new KAST Business platform gives companies a single service for receiving money, holding stablecoins, issuing cards, and paying workers or vendors across different markets.

Businesses can receive fiat through virtual accounts supplied by regulated partners. Customers may also fund their accounts with supported stablecoins and other crypto assets, although Kast has not published a complete list of eligible tokens for every jurisdiction.

After funds arrive, companies can issue virtual cards for employees, vendors or subscriptions. The platform also supports local payouts in more than 20 currencies, giving internationally distributed teams an alternative to managing separate bank accounts and payment services.

Kast said the service reaches more than 170 countries, but access to individual products depends on the customer’s location and the rules applied by its financial partners. Account features, card availability, and transfer options may therefore differ between jurisdictions.

Kast Business combines payments with stablecoin balances

The platform brings several functions normally offered by separate providers into one dashboard. Along with receiving and sending funds, business owners can create virtual cards and assign them to individual team members or recurring expenses.

Kast’s business page says companies can issue hundreds of virtual cards and set separate spending limits. Customers can use the cards for operating costs, including software subscriptions, vendor bills and online advertising, subject to the company’s eligibility rules and card controls.

Card spending can generate cashback of up to 3%, according to Kast. The actual rate depends on the customer’s membership level, transaction type, monthly spending limit, and location.

Standard cardholders receive a lower rate than customers on paid tiers. Kast’s published card terms show that foreign exchange fees can also range from 0.5% to 1.75%, depending on the country, transaction, and card program, meaning the advertised cashback rate does not apply equally to every payment.

For cross-border transfers, companies can receive money through fiat accounts before moving it through stablecoin infrastructure. The structure gives businesses a way to accept traditional bank payments while using digital assets for treasury operations or settlement.

A similar model has begun appearing among other payment companies. In July, Ramp launched accounts that let companies hold USDC and USDT, send stablecoins at any time, and settle payments in more than 40 local currencies across over 140 countries.

The 8% APY comes with product and jurisdiction limits

Kast advertises returns of up to 8% APY on idle business balances. The company says the return comes from short-term U.S. Treasuries and stablecoin yield, but the maximum rate should not be treated as a fixed return available to every customer.

Kast has not detailed on its public business page how much of the advertised return comes from Treasury assets and how much comes from other stablecoin strategies. The company also has not provided a full public breakdown of the underlying products, counterparties, fees, or conditions required to receive the highest rate.

An APY shows the annualized return after compounding and does not mean customers will receive 8% over a shorter holding period. Rates generated by Treasury instruments or crypto-market activity can change as market conditions, fees, and strategy performance change.

As a June explainer from crypto.news noted, stablecoin-linked returns can come from several sources, including government debt, lending markets, trading strategies and platform-funded rewards. Each structure carries different custody, liquidity, counterparty, and regulatory risks.

Kast identifies itself as a financial technology company, not a bank. Regulated account and payment services are supplied through licensed partner institutions, according to the company.

Customers would therefore need to review the terms for the specific fiat account, stablecoin balance, and yield product they use. Kast’s description does not state that every balance qualifies as an insured bank deposit, while digital assets and investment products generally do not receive the same protections as deposits held directly at an insured bank.

U.S. rules place stablecoin rewards under scrutiny

For U.S. businesses, the yield feature arrives while regulators and lawmakers continue to examine how stablecoin rewards should be treated.

The GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins and prevents payment stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield solely for holding their tokens. The restriction does not automatically settle how a separate fintech platform may offer rewards or returns through an account, Treasury product, or another investment arrangement.

Kast’s description presents the return as a feature attached to business balances and says it is powered by short-term U.S. Treasuries and stablecoin yield. The company has not publicly explained whether U.S. customers can access the same maximum rate or which legal structure governs the product in the United States.

Availability may also depend on the licensed partner holding the funds, the type of asset placed in the account, and whether a yield product falls under banking, securities, or another set of financial rules. Kast’s statement that services vary by jurisdiction leaves open which business features will be offered to American companies at launch.

U.S. users may also face tax reporting obligations when they receive yield or cashback, depending on how each payment is classified. Kast has not published product-specific U.S. tax guidance for the new business service, so customers would need to rely on their transaction records and professional advice when reporting income.

Kast targets up to 5,000 active businesses in 2026

Kast launched the business product after closing an $80 million Series A funding round in March at a reported valuation of $600 million.

The company said it would direct the capital toward product development, licensing, and expansion in North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. Kast claims more than 1 million users and plans to bring between 1,000 and 5,000 active companies onto KAST Business by the end of 2026.

Before the business-platform rollout, Kast appointed former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission senior adviser Stephanie Allen as head of corporate and policy communications. The April appointment placed Allen in charge of the company’s engagement with policymakers, industry groups and media as Kast expanded its stablecoin services in North America and Latin America.

Prediction market platform Kalshi has imposed lifetime and multi-year trading bans on US House of Representatives candidates Laurie Buckhout and former Republican lawmaker George Santos, citing violations of rules that prohibit traders who can influence an event’s outcome from trading on contracts tied to that same event.

The compliance notices, announced Friday, mark one of Kalshi’s most serious enforcement actions since the platform launched in 2021. They also land amid heightened political and regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets, particularly claims that some event contracts could be manipulated.

Key takeaways

• Kalshi permanently suspended George Santos from trading on its prediction markets and imposed a $71,356 penalty, according to a settlement notice.
• Laurie Buckhout received a three-year trading suspension and a $2,590 penalty following Kalshi disciplinary action.
• Kalshi tied both restrictions to alleged rule-breaches involving event contracts that could be influenced by the candidates’ own actions.
• The moves follow broader enforcement concerns as regulators and lawmakers push back on whether prediction markets can be adequately controlled against manipulation.

Lifetime ban for George Santos after alleged event-linked trading

In its notice of settlement of disciplinary action, Kalshi said it had permanently suspended Santos from trading on the platform and assessed a $71,356 penalty. The company’s account attributes the action to investigation findings that Santos traded using event contracts connected to matters tied to his own public schedule and actions.

Kalshi said Santos “engaged in trading activity in certain markets related to his attendance at the State of the Union address” in February 2026. Under Kalshi’s rules, the platform prohibits trading on contracts where the trader is a decision maker, or has any influence—direct or indirect—over the outcome of the underlying event.

“If a Trader is a decision maker, either directly or indirectly, or has any influence, directly or indirectly, no matter the scale and importance of the influence, on the outcome of the Underlying event of any Contract, that Trader is prohibited from attempting to enter into any trade, either directly or indirectly, on the market in such Contracts,” Kalshi’s rules state.

Notably, Kalshi’s compliance notice did not say whether Santos cooperated with the investigation. Santos, however, publicly disputed Kalshi’s approach afterward, calling the platform “unserious” in a post on X.

Three-year suspension for Buckhout tied to her own candidacy

Kalshi said its investigation into Buckhout led to a three-year suspension from trading and a $2,590 penalty. In its notice of settlement, the company described Buckhout—running in North Carolina’s 1st congressional district—as having announced her candidacy and being added as a market option for a contract on the North Carolina congressional election.

In describing the conflict, Kalshi referenced its rules on influence over an event’s outcome, emphasizing that if a trader has any meaningful ability to affect the underlying result, they are barred from trading on related contracts. Kalshi’s compliance department reported that Buckhout “cooperated with the inquiry” and agreed to the trading ban and penalty.

Buckhout remains a Republican candidate for the 2026 midterm elections in North Carolina’s 1st congressional district. Reports also indicated her comment after the settlement characterized her alleged conduct as a “dumb mistake.”

Why Kalshi’s enforcement matters for prediction market trust

These settlements are significant not only for the individuals named but also for how prediction markets defend themselves against manipulation concerns. Kalshi’s argument is essentially compliance-based: once someone can plausibly affect or influence an event tied to a market—whether by office-holding, public participation, or other decision-making—the market platform draws a line between ordinary speculation and trading while holding influence over the event.

That stance comes as prediction market platforms continue to face pressure from both federal and state authorities. Kalshi has already been in the crosshairs over event-contract conduct, and the new enforcement actions can be read as part of a broader attempt to demonstrate internal policing.

The same tension has also appeared in enforcement actions involving people connected to political communications. Earlier, federal regulators fined Gabriel Perez, described as President Donald Trump’s teleprompter operator, after trading event contracts on Kalshi related to Trump’s speeches. Kalshi’s latest disciplinary actions, while involving different individuals and circumstances, reinforce the idea that regulators and lawmakers are watching whether event markets can be gamed by participants whose own actions shape outcomes.

Prediction markets still face a legal battle over jurisdiction

Beyond Kalshi’s internal discipline, the wider market faces legal uncertainty in the United States. According to the article’s referenced context, Kalshi and other prediction platforms such as Polymarket have been hit by lawsuits filed by individual US state gaming authorities. Those suits allege the platforms facilitate illegal bets on sporting events.

At the same time, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has argued that it holds “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets, and the CFTC chair, Michael Selig, has said the agency will pursue legal action against state authorities that challenge that position.

Earlier this year, the CFTC used rare emergency authority in a dispute involving New York’s attempt to bar Kalshi from offering certain types of contracts tied to sports, elections, and other events. The case reflects a broader regulatory asymmetry: even when platforms claim they are operating under federal frameworks, state-level enforcement threats can still shape market access, product design, and long-term compliance strategy.

Buckhout’s market remains live despite sanctions

Even with Buckhout sanctioned, Kalshi’s contracts tied to her election outcome appear to remain listed. As of Tuesday, Kalshi still showed event contracts related to the result of Buckhout’s North Carolina race, displaying probabilities for Democratic incumbent Don Davis versus Buckhout.

That detail matters for traders and observers because it highlights a separation between disciplinary action against a participant and the ongoing availability of the underlying contract market—an important operational question for anyone evaluating liquidity, pricing accuracy, and how quickly markets reflect compliance-driven changes.

Going forward, market participants should watch whether Kalshi expands similar enforcement across other categories of politically connected events, and whether the CFTC’s jurisdiction stance continues to deter or intensify state-level lawsuits—developments that could reshape which prediction markets remain accessible in the US and under what compliance standards.

In a post that attracted over 800,000 views yesterday, a pseudonymous crypto trader claimed to have bought a ‘controlling stake’ in a NASDAQ-listed pennystock for $1.8 million with a quirky plan to squeeze short-sellers through the power of memecoins.

Dropping clues obviously intended to drum up interest in his bizarre investment, he announced tantalizing plans to tokenize his equity, pairing it with a memecoin, and launch a short-squeeze campaign against the ‘92.3%’ of the float that he claimed was already sold-short.

There was one problem with his wild tale, however. No such company exists. 

A proposed Community Note on X correctly debunked the possibility that he could have bought shares in a company matching his description.

Three hours later, the attention-seeker admitted that he had fabricated some of those numbers, recasting his original post as intentionally obscure despite an otherwise sincere effort.

Delusional memecoin ‘trading’ of Nasdaq stocks

In this case, the backpedal is notable because it demonstrates a repeating pattern of misinformation about real stocks from crypto influencers.

Indeed, just one night prior, memecoin traders tried to squeeze short-sellers on Nasdaq-listed Hims & Hers. That effort entirely failed because, to state the obvious, memecoin trades do not oblige Nasdaq stocks to change their price.

Over the summer, crypto influencers tried to revive a short-squeeze narrative using chatter about tokenizing NYSE-listed GameStop using memecoins or Robinhood Chain smart contracts.

Horrifyingly, a researcher found 354 out of 361 Robinhood Chain contracts using the GME ticker had absolutely no link to Gamestop’s actual GME stock.

What’s blocking renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks?

A fake Claude desktop application has distributed RevStealer malware designed to steal data from more than 50 cryptocurrency wallets, password managers, and web browsers on Windows computers.

Fake Claude app conceals RevStealer payload

Cybersecurity company Morphisec said in an Aug. 31 report that RevStealer is being delivered through a trojanized Electron application presented as “Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop,” which uses Anthropic’s branding and offers free access to its paid artificial intelligence model.

Before appearing under the Claude name, the malware was distributed through GitHub repositories and websites advertising video game cheats, according to Morphisec Threat Labs. The researchers identified the Claude-themed GitHub project as the most notable example because it used interest in paid AI tools to encourage people to install unverified software.

The download arrives as an archive of about 101 megabytes containing a 64-bit Electron application. Although victims expect a working Claude interface, Morphisec found that the program opens no visible window and instead prepares an encrypted native payload in the background.

RevStealer’s loader stores the payload as an AES-256-CBC-encrypted resource inside the application. After clearing its initial checks, it decrypts the file, writes it under a random name in the Windows AppData directory, and launches the malware without displaying a window.

At the same time, the loader attempts to add the user’s AppData folder to the Microsoft Defender exclusion list. Morphisec said the process is designed to limit the evidence left on the device while allowing the malware to collect and transmit information quickly.

RevStealer checks the computer before running

Rather than immediately releasing its main payload, RevStealer first examines the computer for signs that security researchers are watching it. The loader requires at least 2 gigabytes of physical memory, two logical processor cores, and a recognized graphics adapter, according to Morphisec.

Hostname and username checks compare the device against a blocklist associated with research systems. A separate timing test measures the delay around a JavaScript debugger instruction, wiping the malware’s encoded string table when execution pauses for more than about 100 milliseconds.

The native stage conducts another 10 checks that produce a weighted anti-virtual-machine score. It also examines the computer’s language settings and shuts down on systems configured for Russian, Ukrainian, and several Central Asian languages.

Automated analysis faces another barrier through a CAPTCHA window, which requires interaction before the infection can continue. If the device fails one of the early checks, the loader does not decrypt or expose the payload, leaving researchers with less malicious activity to examine.

Once running, RevStealer resolves Windows application programming interfaces without using a standard import table. Morphisec also identified 14 indirect system-call wrappers that allow the malware to reach the Windows kernel while avoiding exported functions commonly monitored by security products.

“Every stage of it is engineered around the assumption that something is watching,” Morphisec researcher Shmuel Uzan wrote.

RevStealer targets crypto wallets and account sessions

On an accepted device, RevStealer searches browser databases, encryption keys, and extension storage for information that can provide access to online accounts. Morphisec confirmed that its collection list includes Windows Credential Manager, 12 password managers, more than 50 cryptocurrency wallets, and browser session cookies.

The malware also looks for VPN configurations, remote-access credentials, clipboard contents, messaging application data, selected documents, screenshots, game launchers and OBS streaming profiles. Information collected from each source is placed in an encrypted, typed record before being sent to the operator’s command-and-control server.

Stolen browser cookies can expose an account even when the owner uses multi-factor authentication. If a valid session has already passed the login process, a criminal may be able to reuse the cookie instead of supplying the victim’s password and second authentication factor, according to cybersecurity researchers cited in previous malware reporting.

RevStealer can also recover an alternative server address from a smart contract on the Polygon blockchain when its main command-and-control server becomes unavailable. Morphisec said the method lets its operators change infrastructure without rebuilding and redistributing the malware.

Unlike malware that creates scheduled tasks or startup entries to remain on a computer, RevStealer does not establish persistence. The program collects the available information, sends it to its operators, and removes itself.

Morphisec described the operation as a “single short burst of theft,” warning that the credentials, cookies and wallet material may already be gone by the time a detection system produces an alert for review.

Fake software remains a common crypto malware lure

The Claude impersonation follows several campaigns in which attackers packaged credential-stealing tools as familiar applications, entertainment files, or software updates.

In August, crypto.news reported that fake downloads of The Odyssey were delivering Lumma Stealer through Windows executable files disguised as 1080p, WEBRip, and Blu-ray movie releases. Bitdefender said the malware could collect cryptocurrency wallet data, saved passwords, payment information, browser cookies, and remote-desktop credentials.

A separate July campaign used lookalike meeting pages and compromised Telegram accounts to target crypto workers. According to reporting on fake meetings, North Korea-linked BlueNoroff operators scanned browsers for Ethereum and Solana wallets before presenting some victims with false Zoom or Microsoft Teams updates.

JUMPSEC found that the meeting campaign covered both Windows and macOS devices. On Windows, its PowerShell loader added a Microsoft Defender exclusion, while the macOS version collected system information and Chrome master keys from Apple’s Keychain.

Kaspersky identified another modular malware framework in July that used fake recovery screens, keylogging, and clipboard monitoring against cryptocurrency investors. The company said OkoBot’s 20 modules could capture wallet recovery phrases, passwords and copied wallet addresses, with affected users found in Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and Turkey.

OkoBot’s SeedHunter component showed victims a false recovery interface associated with Ledger and Trezor devices, according to Kaspersky. Any recovery phrase entered into the screen was sent to the malware operators, while another module recorded open wallet windows.

U.S. authorities have tracked similar information theft

For users in the United States, the RevStealer report follows federal action against LummaC2, another malware service used to collect credentials and cryptocurrency wallet information.

The U.S. Justice Department said in May 2025 that LummaC2 had been used in at least 1.7 million information-theft incidents. Federal authorities seized five internet domains supporting the operation, while Microsoft said it helped disrupt about 2,300 domains that formed part of the malware’s infrastructure.

“Malware like LummaC2 is deployed to steal sensitive information such as user login credentials from millions of victims in order to facilitate a host of crimes, including fraudulent bank transfers and cryptocurrency theft,” Matthew Galeotti, then-head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said at the time.

The Justice Department said the malware was sold through online forums and a Telegram channel, allowing customers to buy access and run their own theft campaigns. Court-authorized seizures redirected the five main domains to government-controlled pages, while the department said foreign and domestic partners assisted with the disruption.