Arthur Hayes thinks everyone has the AI trade filed under the wrong category.

In a new essay, the co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX and crypto fund Maelstrom said the ongoing infrastructure buildout is a credit story like 2008, not an earnings story like the 2000 dot-com bust.

Hyperscalers, or computing frms borrow against their massive data centers, are stuffed with chips that depreciate fast, and lenders bankroll it believing they are financing technology when the underlying asset is closer to real estate.

The break comes when announced capex stops accelerating, which he pegs for late 2027 into 2028. Credit keeps flowing well past that point, the way mortgage lending did into 2007, until the weakest AI debt cracks and drags down whoever is over-levered on it.

Hayes expects Washington and Beijing to backstop the wreckage in the name of national security, printing more than they did in 2008, and that flood of liquidity is what bottoms bitcoin and drives it toward $1 million.

The nearer-term call is that the recent AI selloff, Korea’s leveraged unwind included, is a dip inside a bull market.

Bitcoin traded near $64,200 on Wednesday, flat on the week and still stuck in the range it has held since May.

“I don’t think the 500-day rule will be as relevant in the current cycle. BTC is now primarily institutionally driven. ETF inflows have dwarfed the halving supply shock.”

Following the April 2024 halving, bitcoin miners produced about 450 BTC per day, worth about $35 million to $40 million, Fernandes said. By comparison, the daily spot bitcoin ETF flows in 2024 and 2025 ranged from about $100 million to $1 billion, he added.

The contrast suggests ETF flows now outweigh the new supply created by miners, blunting the halving’s direct impact. Additionally, those flows can also reverse, adding selling pressure on the price of bitcoin, as seen recently, making these ETF moves a dominant force in price moves.

Aryan Sheikhalian, investor and head of research at CMT Digital, agreed with Greenspan and Fernandes, saying the mechanism and fundamentals that have historically driven the bitcoin halving cycle are fading.

“New supply from miners is de minimis next to spot bitcoin ETFs and corporate U.S. Treasury flows, and those flows set both the top and this year’s unwind,” Sheikhalian said.

There are, however, still some believers in this four-year cycle of halving, and its historical impact and miner economics remain fundamental mechanics of the bitcoin market.

Shaw Walters, founder of Eliza Labs and the open-source ElizaOS framework, has declared the Eliza token “dead” and confirmed the foundation has begun winding down after settling a lawsuit by transferring its remaining treasury and available funds.

According to a post published by Walters on X, the settlement followed a lawsuit brought by Burwick Law, which he said the project could not afford to contest despite believing the claims lacked merit. He added that the agreement transferred “the rest of the treasury and all the money” the foundation had to a group of token holders.

I guess I should say something about the token

Look. I worked my ass off to the point I got a frozen shoulder and severe health issues from overworking and typing, and it was never enough

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We built cool shit but it was completely ignored because number down

It felt like the…

— Shaw (spirit/acc) (@shawmakesmagic) August 4, 2026

The announcement ends foundation support for the token while separating its future from the Eliza open-source software project, which Walters said will continue under his control because he owns the underlying intellectual property. He said he has no intention of supporting another token tied to Eliza.

Burwick lawsuit led to treasury settlement

Burwick Law filed a federal class action lawsuit in April in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Walters, Eliza Labs and affiliated parties. The complaint accused the project of false advertising, deceptive acts and practices, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

According to the lawsuit, the project promoted itself as an autonomous AI-managed venture fund governed by an independent AI agent while allegedly remaining under the control of Walters and other insiders. The filing also challenged the project’s token migration from ai16z to ElizaOS, claiming the process diluted existing holders after venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz objected to the original ai16z branding.

Walters said on X that the project lacked the financial resources to continue the legal fight and instead settled by handing over the remaining treasury.

He also rejected suggestions that he personally profited from the project, saying he never sold his ai16z holdings and received only what he described as a modest salary comparable to other engineers on the team.

Eliza token support has ended

Alongside confirming the foundation’s closure, Walters said holders should not expect buybacks, treasury support or any mechanism designed to support the token’s price.

He wrote that the token is “dead” and described it as “completely ngmi,” adding that he no longer owns any tokens and will not back the asset in the future. Walters advised holders to either sell their tokens or manage them independently because, according to him, there is no foundation left to provide financial support.

His post also blamed what he described as speculative trading culture and constant criticism from parts of the crypto community for influencing his decision to leave token-related projects behind. Walters argued that much of the criticism came from investors unwilling to accept losses from speculative trading rather than from people interested in the technology itself.

According to the statement, he has ruled out launching another token connected to Eliza and said any future work around the project will remain separate from crypto assets.

ElizaOS development will continue without a token

While ending support for the token, Walters said development of ElizaOS itself will continue.

He said his long-term focus remains building open-source AI agent software capable of giving users greater control over their own data and enabling locally operated, crypto-enabled AI agents. He added that Eliza would continue building independently even if another open-source project eventually surpassed it, saying the team would contribute to whichever open-source effort best advanced the technology.

The comments are consistent with the direction the project outlined earlier. In January 2025, ElizaOS released a technical whitepaper describing the platform as an open-source operating system for AI agents capable of interacting with blockchain networks, smart contracts and decentralized applications.

The paper said the framework was built with a modular architecture consisting of a Runtime, Adapter, Character, Client and Plugin system, allowing developers to customize AI agents without modifying the core software. It also outlined support for ecosystems including Solana, Ethereum and TON, alongside integrations with AI models from OpenAI, Llama and Qwen.

At the time, the roadmap also included Hierarchical Task Networks, a planning system intended to help AI agents break complex objectives into smaller executable tasks.

Eliza project has changed since the ai16z launch

The project first launched on Solana in October 2024 as ai16z, presenting itself as an AI-managed decentralized autonomous organization and venture-style investment fund where an autonomous AI agent would help guide investment decisions and governance.

Its identity expanded during the rebrand to ElizaOS in early 2025, when the project repositioned itself as a platform for creating, deploying and managing AI agents rather than focusing on a single AI-managed investment vehicle.

The migration also increased the token supply from 6.6 billion to 11 billion units, with circulating supply rising to about 7.4 billion tokens, according to project documentation released during the transition. Developers said the expanded platform would allow AI agents to be created, tokenized and deployed across different use cases while continuing development of the underlying open-source framework.

Although the foundation is now being wound down, Walters said the engineering work will continue. In his post, he described artificial intelligence development as more constructive than the current crypto environment and said his team would keep building Eliza every day without returning to a foundation-backed token model.

The MiCA Crypto Alliance launched its MiCA CASP Tracker on Aug. 5, turning public authorisation data from the European Securities and Markets Authority into a searchable directory for crypto users, businesses and compliance teams.

The tool allows users to check whether a company appears in ESMA’s Markets in Crypto-Assets register and review the services it may legally provide. Each profile can show the firm’s name, Legal Entity Identifier, home country, national regulator, authorisation date and approved service categories.

MiCA tracker makes ESMA data easier to search

ESMA currently publishes its interim MiCA register through downloadable files. The latest version was dated July 31. The regulator says it republishes the data weekly after receiving updates from national competent authorities.

Moreso, the new tracker adds search and comparison functions. Users can filter records by company, country, regulator or authorised service. This can help a customer distinguish between a firm approved for custody and one permitted to operate a trading platform, exchange assets or execute client orders.

The MiCA Regulation defines ten regulated crypto services. They cover custody, trading platform operation, crypto-to-fiat exchange, crypto-to-crypto exchange, order execution, token placement, order transmission, advice, portfolio management and asset transfers.

A company’s appearance in the register does not mean every product it offers falls under MiCA. ESMA has said crypto lending and borrowing are not covered by the regulation’s service list. The Alliance also excludes firms operating only under other rules, including businesses handling financial instruments under MiFID.

July deadline makes licence checks more urgent

The tracker arrives after MiCA’s main transition period ended on July 1. ESMA instructed unauthorised providers to stop accepting new EU clients, opening accounts and marketing covered services. Firms winding down may only take actions needed to transfer assets or close customer positions.

However, ESMA also told consumers to verify providers through its official register. Customers using unauthorised platforms do not receive MiCA safeguards, including protections covering client assets. As crypto.news reported, the deadline required firms without authorisation to secure approval or wind down covered services.

Licensing activity has continued since the deadline. ESMA added BNY’s Belgian unit and 14 other providers in a late-July update. The additions included banks, payment companies and crypto businesses.

ESMA remains the authoritative source

The MiCA Crypto Alliance stressed that its tracker is an independent research tool rather than an official regulatory database. It uses publicly available ESMA information and plans to update as new authorisations appear. However, the Alliance states that the ESMA register remains the authoritative record.

This distinction matters because ESMA says its weekly register may not immediately reflect information already held by national regulators. The database can also retain withdrawn authorisations while recording their effective end dates. Users should therefore check the authorisation status and exact approved services rather than treating a listing as blanket approval.

The tracker’s next test will be how quickly it reflects ESMA’s weekly updates, licence withdrawals and changes to approved services. It offers a simpler starting point for verification, but final checks should still be completed through ESMA and the relevant national regulator.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and institutional crypto trading firm Tradias have completed their merger after clearing the required ownership control procedure, creating a combined digital asset infrastructure unit with about 300 employees.

The transaction was first announced in February, when the companies agreed to combine their regulated crypto businesses and expand their services for banks, brokers and other financial institutions across Europe.

The merged business will operate under the Boerse Stuttgart Digital name, while Tradias will remain the brand for trading services, according to a Wednesday announcement.

The unit will provide trading, custody, staking and tokenization services and will be headquartered in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, with additional locations in Athens, Beirut, Berlin, Dubai, Madrid, Milan and Ljubljana.

Tradias founder Christopher Beck and Boerse Stuttgart Digital managing director Ulli Spankowski will serve as co-CEOs.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital serves institutions including DZ Bank, DekaBank, Intesa Sanpaolo and Société Générale-FORGE. Tradias works with clients including flatexDEGIRO, dwpbank and European government institutions.

Tradias provides trading and market-making services for more than 150 cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Related: BNY to offer institutional crypto staking through Galaxy partnership

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced on Aug. 5 that it will list Grvt’s GRVT token against the Korean won, Bitcoin and Tether. 

Trading is scheduled to begin at 17:00 Korea Standard Time. Deposits and withdrawals were expected to open through Ethereum within two hours of the notice.

The new markets had not opened when this report was prepared. CoinGecko showed GRVT near $0.3235, up about 23.3% over 24 hours, with trading volume above $164 million. Because the token was already trading on other exchanges, the entire gain cannot be attributed to completed Upbit orders.

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Upbit gives GRVT access to three spot markets

Upbit will open GRVT/KRW, GRVT/BTC and GRVT/USDT markets. The won pair gives South Korean customers a direct route into GRVT without first converting their funds into Bitcoin or a stablecoin. The exchange warned that the scheduled opening “may be delayed” if deposits do not provide enough liquidity.

The exchange will accept transfers only through Ethereum. It published the contract address as 0xAD29F2723fcdBcF665F210F25E06f97477e417cF and warned that unsupported network deposits may require a lengthy return process. Upbit also stressed that Grvt Token, or GRVT, is different from Gravity, which trades under the ticker G.

For its opening restrictions, Upbit cited a previous closing price of 374.05 won and 0.2622 USDT. It displayed more recent reference prices of 385.68 won and 0.2632 USDT at 13:30 KST. These were reference figures rather than guaranteed execution prices.

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GRVT price rises before the scheduled opening

GRVT traded between approximately $0.259 and $0.338 over 24 hours. Its market capitalization stood near $37 million, based on an estimated circulating supply of 110 million tokens. CoinGecko placed its fully diluted valuation near $323 million, using the project’s one billion maximum supply.

The token was already available on exchanges including OKX, Bitget, Bybit and Bithumb. Upbit’s addition therefore expands GRVT’s Korean market access and potential liquidity rather than marking its first centralized exchange listing.

The announcement followed other recent Korean listings. Upbit opened HOME trading against the won and USDT on Aug. 4. In related coverage, the exchange added CFX across KRW, BTC and USDT markets on July 31.

Opening controls will limit early GRVT orders

Upbit will block buy orders for about five minutes after trading begins. During the same period, sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous closing price will be restricted. Only limit orders will be accepted for approximately two hours.

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The restrictions reduce the order types available while the three new books establish liquidity. Upbit has applied similar staged controls to other recent listings, including CFX and HOME.

Users must also comply with South Korea’s travel rule requirements. Deposits from providers outside Upbit’s approved virtual asset service provider list may not be credited. Transfers from personal wallets require completed ownership verification. Large deposits with unclear origins may trigger requests for information about the source of funds.

The 17:00 KST launch remains the next test

Grvt describes itself as a self-custodial trading and asset management platform operating on a dedicated Layer 2 built with ZKsync technology. It combines perpetual futures, spot trading and yield products around one account balance.

The project says GRVT has a fixed supply of one billion tokens. It plans to use the token for fee benefits, product access and other platform services. These are project-defined uses and do not guarantee investment returns.

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The next verified event is the scheduled 17:00 KST opening. Traders will watch initial liquidity, price differences between Korean and international markets and whether the increase in volume continues after Upbit orders begin. A delay remains possible if the exchange determines that available liquidity is insufficient.

Cointelegraph is committed to providing independent, high-quality journalism across the crypto, blockchain, AI, and fintech industries.

All news, reviews, and analyses are produced with full journalistic independence and integrity. For more details on our standards and processes, please read our Editorial Policy.

Robinhood has filed to raise up to $200 million for its second publicly listed venture fund, offering retail investors access to seed-stage startups while introducing performance fees that were absent from its first fund.

According to regulatory filings reviewed by multiple publications, Robinhood Ventures Fund II (RVII) plans to offer 7.6 million shares at $25 each, while Robinhood will separately sell another 400,000 shares. The fund is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RVII on Aug. 13, subject to regulatory approval.

Goldman Sachs is serving as the lead bookrunner for the RVII offering, while Citigroup, JPMorgan, UBS and Wells Fargo are acting as joint bookrunners. According to the filing, the subscription window is scheduled to close on Aug. 12, one day before the fund is expected to begin trading on the NYSE.

Robinhood moves from late-stage startups to early funding

Unlike Robinhood Ventures Fund I, which concentrated on later-stage private companies such as Databricks, Stripe, OpenAI and SpaceX, the new vehicle has been structured around much earlier investments. 

Regulatory documents show RVII will launch with holdings in about 80 private companies and will primarily invest in seed-stage businesses linked to startup accelerator Y Combinator, including current participants, former participants and companies founded by YC alumni.

Robinhood Ventures head Sarah Pinto said the new fund is intended to let retail investors participate in a company’s growth before it reaches the public markets instead of waiting for an initial public offering.

The filing also notes that Robinhood has permission to reference the Y Combinator name, although the accelerator does not sponsor, endorse or accept responsibility for the fund or its investment performance.

Y Combinator has backed more than 5,000 startups since 2005, with those companies collectively reaching a reported valuation of more than $1.3 trillion and producing over 100 unicorns, according to information cited in the filing.

Robinhood venture fund introduces new fee structure

The second fund also changes how investors will be charged.

While Robinhood Ventures Fund I did not impose a performance fee, RVII will charge a 2% annual management fee alongside a 20% incentive fee on realized gains. Regulatory disclosures cited by The Defiant estimate the fund’s annual expense ratio at roughly 4.18%.

The prospectus further describes the investment as speculative, warning of substantial risk of loss. It also states that shareholders will not have redemption rights, meaning investors cannot redeem shares directly with the fund before liquidation.

Robinhood’s first venture fund raised about $658.4 million after launching in March. Although the portfolio focused on more mature private companies that the company’s finance executives previously described as carrying lower risk than early-stage ventures, the fund still dropped roughly 16% on its first trading day before later recovering about 30%.

Rich Aberman, portfolio manager for RVII and a former Y Combinator founder and visiting partner, said the firm’s long-term objective is to make retail investors a regular presence on seed and Series A capitalization tables.

Expansion continues beyond crypto trading

The latest fundraising effort comes as Robinhood continues adding new investment products alongside its traditional brokerage and cryptocurrency businesses.

As crypto.news previously reported, the company recently secured registration with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, allowing its UK subsidiary to offer crypto services under the country’s existing anti-money laundering framework before a new crypto authorization regime begins rolling out.

Robinhood said the approval positions the company to launch cryptocurrency services in the UK after previously confirming plans to expand into the market during its second-quarter earnings report.

The company has also continued building products outside spot crypto trading. During the second quarter, Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain, expanded Stock Tokens to more than 120 countries, introduced Robinhood Earn and completed its acquisition of WonderFi, even as crypto transaction revenue declined to $100 million from the previous year.

Financial results released last week showed total net revenue increased 32% year over year to $1.31 billion, supported by growth across options, equities and event contracts. Robinhood reported that event contracts generated $156 million in revenue during the quarter, making them its fastest-growing transaction business.

Prediction markets remain another area of growth

At the same time, Robinhood has continued expanding the infrastructure behind its prediction markets business.

Back in July, The Wall Street Journal reported that Robinhood had discussed adding Crypto.com’s event contracts to its prediction markets hub. Neither company confirmed that an agreement had been reached, and the report said the discussions could still end without a finalized deal.

Robinhood has said it intends to work with multiple exchanges instead of relying on a single supplier. Its platform already distributes contracts through Kalshi, ForecastEx and Rothera, the exchange it operates through a joint venture with Susquehanna International Group.

Earlier this year, Bernstein raised its Robinhood price target and projected the company’s prediction-market revenue could reach approximately $1.7 billion by 2028. The research firm also estimated about $586 million in revenue from the business during 2026, supported by increased trading activity and expanding exchange partnerships.