Users on X suspect that a recorded interaction between representatives of GTA VI publisher, Rockstar Games, and a pseudonymous X user was staged to pump a crypto scam amid the game’s ongoing leak scandal.

The clip appears to show the representatives knocking on the door of X user “@LewisBi94895348” who, via Reddit account “Pilotx1970,” appeared to predict major GTA VI leaks.

Last month, they posted “August 18 — don’t ask me how I know,” along with, “If you don’t believe me, come back on that date and we will see.” 

They also claimed to know the identity of “CyberLeek,” the main X account that’s been leaking footage of GTA VI gameplay since August 18.

In footage posted by the Lewis X account today, one of the alleged Rockstar reps can be heard saying, “They’re not happy with it,” before asking, “Do you know certain individuals under certain handles, and who are the associates?” 

Read more: Bitcoin spikes after GTA VI trailer leak says ‘Buy $BTC’

They later express doubt that his August 18 post was pure chance. 

User’s doubt legitimacy of GTA VI investigation

The Lewis account also promoted their “GTA insider” cryptocurrency across several posts before deleting them. 

Shortly after, users discovered that the account holder has previously been accused of scamming RC plane buyers on Facebook Marketplace, fueling speculation that the video might also be fake.  

One user said there’s no subpoena for [Rockstar Games parent company] Take-Two to pursue Reddit before claiming that the video uploader is just “trying to get a piece of the pie.”

Others suggested that he hired some random people in order to get “millions of views on Twitter.”

Read more: Steam Workshop wallpapers found spreading crypto malware

Who is CyberLeek?

CyberLeek claims to be using his cryptocurrency $CYBERLEEK to raise funds for a “secret project” while advocating for better consumer rights across the video game industry. 

However, gaming advocacy group Stop Killing Games has criticised the leaks, claiming the illegality of it “risks tarnishing the reputation of our communities and our chances to make change.” 

Bringing back the dire wolf

Circle is catching the attention of Wall Street analysts again, with Bernstein arguing that USDC is entering a fresh growth phase that could lift the company’s performance over the next year. In a research note published Monday, the firm said USDC is showing signs of what it called “digital dollar reflation,” after supply jumped by roughly $2 billion in seven days—an apparent turnaround from a six-month period of stagnant or declining growth.

Bernstein maintained an Outperform rating on Circle and set a $140 price target, implying around 60% upside from current levels. The stock has reportedly risen about 40% over the past month, underscoring how quickly market sentiment can shift around stablecoin issuance and adoption.

Key takeaways

• Bernstein cited USDC supply increasing by roughly $2 billion in seven days, reversing a prior stretch of flat or falling growth.
• The firm expects a potential “next phase” for stablecoins to be driven by market momentum, U.S. regulatory clarity, and tokenized capital markets.
• Bernstein said USDC’s share of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume rose from about 40% in 2025 to more than 60% so far in 2026, overtaking USDt by that measure.
• Analysts highlighted early signals of stablecoin payments being used by artificial intelligence agents.

Why Bernstein thinks USDC momentum matters

Stablecoin growth is often measured in multiple ways—issuance, liquidity, and real-world transaction usage. Bernstein’s central argument focuses on issuance acceleration: a $2 billion increase in USDC supply over just one week suggests demand for dollar-denominated on-chain settlement is picking up again. The note frames this as “digital dollar reflation,” implying that the on-chain dollar supply is expanding in a way that may support broader ecosystem activity.

For investors, the implication is straightforward: renewed stablecoin issuance can translate into more business for Circle, particularly if new supply is associated with greater on-chain usage and related enterprise adoption. Bernstein also points to a broader set of catalysts beyond one-week supply growth—elements that, if they materialize, could help make the rebound more durable rather than episodic.

Drivers: regulation, tokenized markets, and payments

Bernstein outlined several potential contributors to a stablecoin “growth cycle.” First, it pointed to renewed momentum in crypto markets, which can raise risk appetite and increase the volume of on-chain activity where stablecoins serve as settlement rails. Second, it highlighted the possibility of greater regulatory clarity in the United States—an area that has long been a variable for stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and payment integrators trying to scale compliant services.

Third, Bernstein linked stablecoin expansion to tokenized capital markets—an umbrella term for the use of tokenized instruments and on-chain infrastructure for financial services. If more of these workflows use stablecoins as a unit of account or settlement asset, transaction volume could increase meaningfully. Finally, Bernstein pointed to growing stablecoin adoption for payments, suggesting that stablecoins are moving beyond trading and into everyday transfer use cases.

The analysts also referenced “early signs” of stablecoin use in payments made by artificial intelligence agents. While still emerging, the idea matters because AI-driven workflows could introduce new automation patterns for transfers—potentially increasing the frequency and diversity of stablecoin payment demand over time.

USDC’s transaction share rises while USDt slips in that metric

Although USDC is still the second-largest dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization—behind Tether’s USDt—Bernstein argued that USDC is gaining ground in actual transaction activity. According to the firm, USDC’s share of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume rose from roughly 40% in 2025 to more than 60% so far in 2026. On that basis, USDC has reportedly overtaken USDt.

This distinction is important because it separates “size” from “usage.” A stablecoin can lag in total market cap yet still lead in transaction throughput if it becomes the preferred settlement asset for certain applications or platforms. For Circle, a rise in transaction share can signal improvements in distribution, integrations, and user behavior—even if headline supply growth is the first datapoint drawing attention.

Circle stock performance and fundamentals since IPO

Bernstein’s bullish view arrives during a period of noticeable stock volatility for Circle. The company went public in June 2025, pricing its shares at $31 and raising about $1.1 billion in its initial public offering. After a strong early period, the shares slid back toward their IPO level by November 2025 as broader crypto market weakness weighed on publicly traded companies exposed to the sector.

Despite that volatility, Circle has continued to report improving results on an annual comparison basis. In its most recent quarter, the company reported $701 million in revenue and $48 million in net income, both up from a year earlier. The persistence of year-over-year improvement can matter for how equity markets interpret a stablecoin growth rebound—especially when traders are trying to balance short-term issuance trends against longer-term profitability.

As stablecoin demand patterns evolve, investors may focus not only on supply but also on which networks and use cases drive transaction volume. Bernstein’s emphasis on USDC overtaking USDt on adjusted transaction share suggests that, at least for now, usage dynamics are shifting in Circle’s favor.

What to watch next is whether the “digital dollar reflation” signals translate into sustained growth beyond a one-week supply jump—particularly as policy clarity and payment and tokenization adoption progress. If USDC continues to lead transaction share while issuance remains steady, Bernstein’s thesis could gain more traction; if not, the current rebound may prove temporary.

Coinbase-backed Stand With Crypto has endorsed 32 House lawmakers seeking reelection in November after each supported the CLARITY Act during its passage through the chamber last year.

Stand With Crypto ties 32 endorsements to CLARITY vote

Reuters reported Monday that Stand With Crypto had selected 32 incumbent members of Congress for its latest endorsement round ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

All 32 lawmakers voted for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act when the House passed the proposal in July 2025. The legislation would divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while setting rules for crypto exchanges and other market participants.

By using the House vote as a central test, the group has tied its election activity to a specific legislative record rather than party membership. Its latest list includes Republicans Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Bill Huizenga of Michigan, as well as Democrats Ritchie Torres of New York and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

Stand With Crypto Executive Director Mason Lynaugh told Reuters that the organization wants to return lawmakers who supported the bill to Congress. The group plans to announce its Senate endorsements closer to Election Day.

“In 2024, we were very much proving that the crypto voter is real,” Lynaugh said.

“In 2026, we’re very much showing that we have the organizing capacity and that our advocates are a true voting bloc that can move the needle.”

Coinbase launched Stand With Crypto in 2023 to organize people who support digital asset legislation. Unlike a super political action committee, the organization says its election work centers on voter outreach and mobilization rather than large independent campaign expenditures.

The group currently claims more than 3 million registered U.S. advocates, up from the 2.7 million cited when Lynaugh discussed its campaign plans in May. At that event, crypto.news covered its midterm strategy, which initially included endorsements for six House incumbents.

Bipartisan list includes lawmakers in competitive races

Several lawmakers in the latest group are running in districts where the November result could be close, increasing the potential value of volunteer outreach and voter mobilization.

Arizona Republican Juan Ciscomani and Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick are among the endorsed members facing competitive contests, according to Reuters. Lynaugh said Stand With Crypto could become “the difference maker” in some of the races, though the group has not disclosed any forecast for their outcomes.

Huizenga, another member of the endorsed group, secured the Republican nomination in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District earlier in August. Defend American Jobs, the Republican-aligned affiliate of Fairshake, spent nearly $512,000 supporting him, according to campaign finance data compiled by Tech Influence Watch.

During the same round of primaries, several Fairshake-supported candidates advanced in Washington state. Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Kim Schrier and Marilyn Strickland won their party primaries, while Republican Amanda McKinney also moved forward, as detailed in an Aug. 5 report on Fairshake-backed primary victories.

Torres has also received support from crypto-linked political groups during the election cycle. Protect Progress, Fairshake’s Democratic-aligned affiliate, spent about $1.5 million supporting his reelection campaign ahead of the New York primary, while Fellowship PAC reportedly added roughly $300,000 in advertising.

Stand With Crypto’s own polling, conducted with Impact Research, found that 59% of crypto owners do not reliably vote for one political party. Nearly half of respondents said they could support a candidate whose crypto position matched theirs even when they disagreed with the candidate on other subjects, according to the organization’s May presentation.

CLARITY Act delay raises the stakes for the next Congress

The House passed the CLARITY Act by a 294-134 vote in July 2025, but the proposal has remained held up in the Senate amid disputes over stablecoin rewards, decentralized finance oversight, anti-money laundering requirements and ethics restrictions involving government officials’ crypto holdings.

A Senate Banking Committee markup initially scheduled for Jan. 15 was postponed after Coinbase withdrew its support hours before the meeting. The company objected to parts of the draft, leaving senators without an agreement needed to move the legislation forward.

Alongside the Banking Committee’s work, the Senate Agriculture Committee must address sections involving the CFTC. The bill would then need to pass the full Senate, return to the House if senators change its text, and reach President Donald Trump for his signature.

Because most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster, Republicans would need Democratic support even if every Republican senator backed the proposal. A report examining the CLARITY Act’s midterm risk noted that the congressional calendar has narrowed as lawmakers approach the election.

The proposal remains important for U.S. crypto companies and investors because it would set federal rules for when digital assets fall under SEC or CFTC oversight. Supporters say the division would reduce uncertainty over trading, registration and token classifications, while disagreements in the Senate show that lawmakers have not settled the bill’s consumer protection, ethics and financial crime provisions.

Stand With Crypto’s endorsements focus on House members who supported the existing text, but the next Congress could revisit the proposal if the Senate does not finish work before the current session ends. Any unfinished bill would have to be introduced again after the new Congress takes office in January 2027.

Crypto election spending approaches $200 million

Political spending by the digital asset industry has continued alongside the grassroots campaign. Reuters estimated that crypto-linked groups have committed close to $200 million during the 2026 midterm cycle, with much of the money flowing through Fairshake and its affiliated committees.

Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen separately calculated that crypto companies had contributed about $189 million to the 2026 election cycle by the end of June. Its report said the amount represented roughly 37% of corporate political contributions tracked during the period and had already surpassed the industry’s estimated $170 million in 2024 spending.

According to Public Citizen, Fairshake had spent more than $82 million during the current cycle, while MAGA Inc., a super PAC largely supported by Crypto.com, had spent more than $56 million. Public filings cited in the report showed Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress held a combined $193 million in January.

During the 2024 elections, crypto groups supported congressional candidates across party lines, many of whom won their races. Congress later passed the GENIUS Act, creating a federal framework for payment stablecoins and handing the industry one of its main legislative victories.

Stand With Crypto has taken a different role from the major super PACs by organizing advocates and publicly rating candidates’ policy records. The organization endorsed six incumbents in March before adding the latest 32 House members, and Lynaugh said its Senate slate would be released closer to Election Day.

On-chain investigator ZachXBT alleged this morning that BitcoinIRA and iTrustCapital suffered data breaches this year without disclosing the incidents to their customers.

ZachXBT claimed that threat actors accessed personal details from the crypto retirement services, such as customers’ portfolio holdings, banking details, custodian details, and verification status.

Once he was confident that the breaches occurred, the researcher emailed both platforms on August 21. After three days of no response, he published the alert publicly today.

iTrustCapital responded to the allegations via X, writing, “ITrustCapital has not experienced and is not aware of any recent third-party vendor data breaches affecting our platform.

“Our multi-step closed-loop system is designed to mitigate losses for clients who may be targeted, phished, scammed or compromised at a personal level.”

BitcoiIRA hadn’t responded publicly by publication time.

Who are the businesses involved?

Chris Kline, Johannes Haze, and Camilo Concha started BitcoinIRA a decade ago out of Sherman Oaks, California, according to a BBB business listing. 

The company markets itself as the ‘original’ service to hold bitcoin (BTC) inside a retirement account and it has claimed more than $14 billion worth of assets.

iTrustCapital, meanwhile was founded in 2018 by Todd Southwick and Blake Skadron. It was based in Long Beach, California when it announced a $125 million Series A round in January 2022. 

The company has claimed to have processed more than $10 billion in cumulative transactions across roughly 53,000 accounts, and iTrustCapital’s own homepage now claims more than $17 billion worth of transactions across over 300,000 accounts.

Germany has extended its lead in the EU’s MiCA licensing rollout, after ESMA added six more crypto asset service providers registered under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. With the latest update, the total number of authorized CASPs across the European Union now stands at 331.

In the previous ESMA register update on Aug. 12, the additions were also reflected in the count. The most recent change, released on Friday, specifically increases Germany’s share by adding six German cooperative banks to the list of licensed entities.

Key takeaways

• ESMA’s MiCA register now lists 331 authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) after Friday’s update.
• Germany added six new CASPs, all cooperative banks, bringing the country’s total to 79.
• Germany leads the EU standings by CASPs, ahead of France (35) and the Netherlands (29).
• ESMA’s non-CASPs datasets tied to asset-referenced tokens (ART), electronic money tokens (EMT), and non-compliant entities were unchanged.

ESMA adds six German cooperative banks

According to ESMA’s MiCA register update published on Friday, six entities were added to the list of authorized crypto asset service providers. Compared with the Aug. 12 update, each of the newly registered providers is German and operates as a cooperative bank:

• Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen
• Ihre Volksbank
• VR-Bank Mittelfranken Mitte
• Volksbank Euskirchen
• VR Bank Ried-Überwald
• Volksbank Backnang

This expansion reinforces Germany’s position as the most active EU market in terms of MiCA authorizations, at a time when investors are watching which jurisdictions are moving fastest through the new regulatory framework.

Germany’s MiCA authorization gap widens

Germany now accounts for 79 CASPs under MiCA, compared with France’s 35 and the Netherlands’ 29, based on ESMA figures previously reviewed by Cointelegraph. The country’s lead has also been building quickly: Germany’s total stood at 57 CASPs in late June, when Cointelegraph reported that Germany was already ahead in the number of authorizations.

The pace matters because MiCA authorization is a prerequisite for compliant crypto-asset services across the EU. A larger number of authorized providers can translate into broader availability of regulated services for users in that country and potentially more competition among licensed entities.

Why Germany has more CASPs than its peers

Germany’s higher authorization count reflects structural features of its financial sector and how existing regulatory pathways mapped onto MiCA’s implementation. In June, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) told Cointelegraph that the high number of MiCA authorizations is partly due to the country’s large financial industry and the number of credit institutions that are eligible to offer crypto services.

BaFin also pointed to Germany’s earlier national licensing regime. The regulator said that this established framework allowed some CASPs to benefit from simplified authorization procedures during the transition to MiCA, helping explain why the authorizations in Germany accelerated earlier and at a higher volume than in some other jurisdictions.

Token-category registers remain stable

Beyond the CASP register, ESMA maintains datasets related to specific token classifications. In the Friday update, those token-category datasets did not change: the asset-referenced token (ART) register remained empty, the electronic money token (EMT) register continued to show 43 entries, and the list of non-compliant entities stayed at 167.

For market participants, these static figures are useful context. While the number of licensed service providers is climbing, the token-category registers indicate that the regulatory focus is still separating the licensing progress of service firms from the readiness and reporting status of token issuers or categories tracked under ESMA’s framework.

Readers should watch the next ESMA register releases for whether Germany’s additions continue at the same pace, and whether any movement appears in the ART and non-compliant entity datasets—areas that remain unchanged despite growth in CASP authorizations.