Crypto World
Tether Phases Out Gold-Backed aUSDT Derivatives Stablecoin
Tether is winding down Alloy by Tether and its gold-backed, overcollateralized aUSDT stablecoin after a short run of about two years. In a statement posted Wednesday, the stablecoin issuer said the move follows an internal review of user activity, market demand, and the company’s “broader priorities,” adding that it wants to concentrate resources where it sees stronger demand and more enduring opportunities.
The shutdown is designed to be gradual. Tether will immediately stop new Alloy positions by preventing fresh aUSDT minting, and it is giving existing users a window to unwind their exposure by returning aUSDT and reclaiming the underlying XAUT by a cutoff date of Sept. 17.
Key takeaways
- Alloy by Tether is being phased out after Tether says demand and strategic fit are weaker than for other products.
- Tether is blocking new aUSDT minting immediately and sets Sept. 17 as the deadline for users to unwind their positions.
- aUSDT was built as an overcollateralized derivative of XAUT, using Ethereum smart contracts.
- XAUT remains active and is described by Tether as substantially larger in market capitalization than Alloy.
- 2025 also saw Tether discontinue CNHT (yuan) and EURT (euro) stablecoins, while it has continued to push tokenized real-world assets such as XAUT.
Why Alloy is shutting down now
Alloy by Tether was positioned as a bridge between gold exposure and dollar-like liquidity. According to Tether, it allows users to deposit XAUT—Tether’s gold-backed token—as collateral in order to mint or borrow against aUSDT. The design aims to keep the value of XAUT locked higher than the value of aUSDT issued, reflecting the overcollateralization model typical of collateralized synthetic assets.
In its announcement of “strategic changes,” Tether said it would focus on “stronger user demand, deeper liquidity and broader long-term market opportunity,” while continuing work across its broader ecosystem. The company explicitly pointed to XAUT—along with other core products—as areas it expects to be more central to its roadmap.
For users, the practical implication is that one of the most straightforward ways to convert gold token exposure into aUSDT liquidity will no longer be available. Traders and DeFi participants who used Alloy to avoid selling XAUT outright will now have to exit through Tether’s wind-down process rather than rolling positions forward.
How the wind-down works for aUSDT holders
Tether said the process will unfold in phases. The first phase begins immediately: users will not be able to open new positions and will be unable to mint additional aUSDT. Existing users will then have time to redeem their aUSDT and retrieve their XAUT.
Tether’s timeline gives users three months to return their aUSDT and reclaim their XAUT before the cut-off on Sept. 17. After that point, Alloy’s function as a collateral-to-aUSDT minting and borrowing mechanism will effectively be closed.
The key uncertainty for remaining participants is how smoothly the redemption process will be operationally handled at the cutoff. While Tether’s statement outlines the deadline and the general redemption mechanism, it does not provide additional details in the supplied text about any operational steps beyond users returning aUSDT to reclaim XAUT.
XAUT stays in focus as tokenized gold appears to drive demand
Even as Alloy is being wound down, Tether says its underlying gold token, XAUT, continues to attract users. In Tether’s framing, XAUT is “popular,” with market capitalization of about $3 billion and physical backing of 22,169 kilograms of gold, according to the company.
By contrast, Tether said Alloy by Tether currently has a market capitalization of $1.2 million and is backed by 14.73 kilograms of gold worth around $2.2 million, based on Tether information from Alloy’s site. That disparity helps explain the stated rationale: while stablecoins remain Tether’s core business, the company is reallocating resources toward products it sees as attracting more liquidity and sustained participation.
Tether has also been leaning into tokenized gold strategically. Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported that the market capitalization of tether’s gold token surged when gold hit record highs of a little over $5,300 per ounce, and that the token later pulled back after that peak. Tether also bought a 12% stake in precious metals platform Gold.com for $150 million in February, with plans to integrate XAUT into the platform.
Broader pullback: CNHT and EURT discontinued
Alloy’s wind-down is part of a broader pattern in 2025: Tether has shelved multiple stablecoin products. In February, the company announced it would discontinue its Chinese yuan stablecoin, CNHT, citing “evolving market conditions, low interest in the product, and limited sustained community demand” relative to other supported assets.
Later in the year, Tether wound down its euro stablecoin, EURT, pointing to European regulatory issues and stating that it wanted to direct attention toward other initiatives such as Hadron, its asset tokenization platform launched in 2024.
At the same time, Tether has not entirely stepped away from fiat-linked tokens. In May, it announced plans to launch a Georgian lari stablecoin (GELT) in cooperation with the government of Georgia.
Taken together, the discontinuations suggest Tether is actively pruning products that do not meet internal benchmarks for sustained adoption or regulatory certainty, even if stablecoins remain the company’s core business. Alloy’s wind-down reinforces this approach by removing a specialized collateralized derivative product with comparatively small scale.
Going forward, investors and users should watch whether XAUT’s traction continues to translate into new demand for liquidity tooling around tokenized real-world assets—and whether Tether’s future stablecoin or tokenization launches similarly emphasize regulatory clarity and long-term liquidity, rather than short-lived product experiments.
In the latest XRP news, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse went public on July 22 with a direct call for Congress to advance the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, amplifying a message from Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty with a blunt verdict: “Perfect can’t be the enemy of good. Let’s get this done!”
The push comes as the bill sits in active Senate negotiations, with seven Senate Democrats seeking stronger consumer and enforcement safeguards before any floor vote.
Alderoty had framed the CLARITY Act explicitly as a consumer protection measure, pointing to its strengthened anti-money laundering requirements, expanded enforcement tools for law enforcement agencies, and new authority for state attorneys general. Garlinghouse endorsed that framing wholesale.
Ripple global co-head of public policy Lauren Belive sharpened the stakes further, warning that rejecting the bill could leave digital asset users exposed to the same structural gaps that enabled the FTX collapse.
The institutional dimension is central to Ripple’s advocacy calculus. Garlinghouse has repeatedly described the CLARITY Act as the final legislative barrier to XRP achieving genuine institutional crypto scale, the kind of CFTC commodity classification that would help expand institutional access
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
XRP News: Lummis Defends the Framework as Democrats Push Back
Senator Cynthia Lummis has continued anchoring the bill’s Republican defense, framing CLARITY as a framework that sharpens regulator accountability, improves market oversight, and gives compliant companies defined operating rules.
Her argument is that clearer federal standards benefit both legitimate firms and the regulators tasked with policing misconduct, a position designed to draw Democratic votes by rebranding the bill as enforcement infrastructure, not industry relief.
That argument has not yet closed the gap with Senate holdouts. With concerns centering on oversight requirements and financial consumer protections, Garlinghouse is now publicly pressuring lawmakers to resolve.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
Financial Giants and Tech Firms Expand the Coalition
Support for the CLARITY Act has moved well beyond the native crypto regulation constituency. Fidelity has pushed directly for Senate action, citing institutional participation trends that make regulatory certainty urgent.
Goldman Sachs’s chief executive has expressed support for a defined digital asset framework. Stand With Crypto is running a coordinated grassroots campaign to translate user sentiment into congressional contact.
More than 200 organizations have joined the formal call for progress on the legislation, with over 1,200 technology firms separately backing a federal crypto framework.
The breadth of that coalition is the strongest structural argument Ripple has: when Wall Street incumbents and Silicon Valley supply chains are aligned on the same bill, Senate moderates face real political cost in holding out on procedural grounds alone.
For XRP specifically, the stakes are concrete. Institutional friction around Ripple’s RLUSD and the broader XRP ecosystem has persisted precisely because statutory classification remains unresolved. Clearer regulatory standards under the CLARITY Act would remove that ambiguity, unlocking access to capital pools that currently treat regulatory gray-area assets as off-limits.
Don’t Miss Out on Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop on ByBit
The post Garlinghouse Calls CLARITY Act XRP’s Last Regulatory Hurdle, Urges Senate to Act Now appeared first on Cryptonews.
European authorities added 15 crypto companies including a BNY Mellon unit to the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework register in the third update of regulated providers since the July 1 transitional deadline.
With the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) update on Friday, its interim MiCA register shows 309 licensed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs).
The latest entries include four banking institutions, including BNY SA/NV, the Belgian subsidiary of US banking giant BNY Mellon, and three German banks, alongside digital asset platforms such as BitPay, Coinify and Bleap.
The update comes as regulators continue building out the MiCA framework, which introduced the European Union’s first unified rules for crypto service providers and aims to bring more oversight to the sector.
Germany and Denmark lead latest CASP additions
Germany and Denmark accounted for the largest number of the latest additions, with three new CASPs registered in each country. Bulgaria and Latvia followed with two additions each, while Belgium, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and the Netherlands each added one provider.
The German additions included cooperative financial societies Spar-und Kreditbank Rheinstetten and VR-Bank Augsburg-Ostallgäu, along with Raiffeisenbank Falkenstein-Wörth.
15 new CASPs in the MiCA register update on Thursday. Source: ESMA
Other newly listed providers include: Bulgaria’s Altcoins BG and Digital Assist; Denmark’s SafeLynx Technologies and Januar, a digital asset infrastructure company; and, Latvia-registered providers Bleap and Nodu Digital.
MiCA expansion continues after July deadline
The latest update follows ESMA’s previous register additions after the July 1 deadline, including 14 CASPs added in the regulator’s second post-deadline update, which included major industry companies such as Ripple Payments Europe.
While the CASP roster expanded, ESMA reported no changes to other MiCA-related registers in the latest update, including authorized issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), e-money tokens (EMTs), and crypto assets, as well as non-compliant entities.
Related: Swiss bank BancaStato launches regulated crypto trading with Sygnum
The continued updates show that MiCA implementation remains an evolving process, with regulators still adding authorized providers as companies complete licensing procedures across European markets.
At the same time, some industry executives warn that the cost of maintaining a MiCA license could push smaller firms out of the market, with Gate Europe CEO Giovanni Cunti saying some licensed companies may struggle to sustain the compliance resources required over the long term.
Magazine: Here’s why the CLARITY Act’s ethics deal may be so hard to reach
Crypto World
Ballooning U.S. debt sends investors to bitcoin (BTC), gold to shelter from dollar devaluation: Crypto Daily
“This is the world of fiscal dominance and ultimately will dictate Fed policy. Rates will necessarily need to be kept artificially low and liquidity will need to be provided to help fund the refinancing cycle,” the founders told CoinDesk. “The ‘debasement’ trade was a popular narrative last year but has gone quiet. Yet it’s set to go into overdrive!,” the founders told CoinDesk.
Several observers have raised the alarm over the ballooning debt in recent months.
Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok warned that the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio of over 120% means there is little room to spend more money should a recession arrive. Moreover, the Fed can’t cut interest rates as aggressively as during previous recessions because that would add to inflation and, more importantly, reduce the yield on bonds. The government needs to issue more bonds to fund deficits and those need to offer a high return to draw demand.
“The U.S. has never entered a recession with this little fiscal buffer,” he wrote in a blog post in May.
All this means that if a recession occurs, the pain could be longer-lasting and may trigger demand for assets that fall largely outside of the financial system, such as BTC and cryptocurrencies. That said, since its inception in 2010, BTC has moved largely like a tech stock and not a haven investment.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Price Prediction: ETF Inflow Streak Ends and Turns Negative, Yet BTC Price Holds
Bitcoin price prediction remains in focus as BTC USD traded near $65,350 during early Asian trading on Monday, gaining about 1.4% despite $465 million in U.S. spot ETF outflows across July 23 and 24.
Even so, Bitcoin held its ground instead of breaking lower. That resilience may point to steady underlying demand, although it could also reflect temporary calm before another move. For now, ETF flows alone are not enough to confirm either outcome.
The ETF reversal came as expectations for tighter Federal Reserve policy returned to the spotlight. At the same time, optimism surrounding the Clarity Act faded into the background. FalconX senior derivatives trader Ivan Lim said the recent Bitcoin ETF outflows reflected caution over the legislation and renewed expectations for higher interest rates.
Meanwhile, geopolitical developments added another layer of uncertainty. A pause in tensions involving the U.S. and Iran helped lift Bitcoin alongside other risk assets. As a result, traders found support from improving sentiment even as institutional flows weakened.
The market now sits between macro pressure and surprisingly resilient price action. Bitcoin has avoided a deeper pullback despite fading ETF demand. The next few sessions should reveal whether buyers remain in control or macro risks finally take over.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Break Past $70,000 This Week?
Bitcoin is holding support around the $64,000 to $65,000 area after rebounding from July’s low near $58,000. The recovery above $65,000 reinforces that zone as an important technical floor. Meanwhile, immediate resistance sits around $66,000 to $67,000, where recent rallies have struggled to build momentum. Monday’s price action is testing that region once again.
Volume remains an important piece of the puzzle. The $221.7 million ETF inflow that ended a 10-day, $2.73 billion outflow streak looked encouraging, but it barely dented the bigger trend. Year to date, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs still show roughly $5.4 billion in net outflows, suggesting institutional sentiment remains cautious despite July’s rebound.
If ETF demand strengthens alongside clearer signals from the Clarity Act or a more dovish Federal Reserve, Bitcoin could break above $67,000 and target the $68,000 to $70,000 region. A less dramatic outcome would see Bitcoin continue ranging between $64,000 and $67,000 while traders wait for fresh macro catalysts.
On the downside, another wave of ETF outflows above $200 million per day, combined with a hawkish Fed surprise, could drag Bitcoin back toward $58,000. The $70,000 target remains achievable, but only if institutional flows recover and macro conditions improve. Until then, resilient price action alone is not enough to confirm a sustained breakout.
Trade Bitcoin on Bybit and Get a Chance to Win Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop
Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as Bitcoin Tests Key Resistance
BTC holding $65,000 is constructive, but the upside from spot Bitcoin at this stage of the cycle is structurally capped by that $5.4 billion year-to-date ETF outflow overhang. Traders looking for asymmetric exposure within the Bitcoin ecosystem are increasingly looking at infrastructure plays, specifically, projects building programmability and speed directly onto Bitcoin’s base layer.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 integrating the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), targeting the core limitations that have kept Bitcoin from competing as a smart contract platform: slow finality, high fees, and zero programmability.
The pitch isn’t theoretical; the SVM integration delivers sub-second finality with low-cost execution, while a Decentralized Canonical Bridge handles BTC transfers without wrapping friction.
The presale has raised $32.9 million at a current price of $0.0136837, with staking available for early participants.
With the Clarity Act framing regulatory boundaries for Bitcoin infrastructure, Layer 2 positioning may prove well-timed.
Research Bitcoin Hyper before the presale window closes.
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: ETF Inflow Streak Ends and Turns Negative, Yet BTC Price Holds appeared first on Cryptonews.
Two crypto platforms disclosed security incidents over the weekend. WEMIX said ownership of a WEMIX$-related contract was compromised, while Garden Finance took its app offline after identifying unusual activity.
Both incidents are small by dollar value. Yet they match the pattern that has shaped crypto security this year, with attack counts climbing to records while individual losses shrink.
What Happened at WEMIX and Garden
WEMIX reported abnormal transactions on the evening of July 26. Approximately 5,225,525 WEMIX$ were issued without authorization.
That supply converted into 30,736 WEMIX and 724,198.27 USDC.e. The assets moved through bridges to Ethereum and BSC, then into assets including Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT).
Some of those assets reached centralized exchanges. WEMIX said it has asked exchanges and stablecoin issuers to freeze the attacker’s wallets.
“All bridges connected to and from WEMIX3.0 have been suspended temporarily. Chainlink CCIP has been suspended, and the PLAY Bridge has also been temporarily suspended,” the platform said.
The company said the cause remains under investigation, and the numbers may change.
Separately, Blockaid flagged an exploit on Garden Finance. The firm counted about $450,000 in USDT drained across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum (ARB), and BSC at the time of its alert.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
Record Crypto Hacks Define 2026
TRM Labs recorded 207 hacks in the first half of 2026. That is more than double the 83 logged a year earlier. The firm said the figure was the highest it had recorded in any six-month period.
However, total hack losses moved in the opposite direction. Roughly $972 million was stolen, against about $2.3 billion in H1 2025.
The data points to a split between frequency and severity. More attacks landed, yet the largest sums concentrated on a handful of high-value targets, including KelpDAO and Drift Protocol.
Last week reinforced the pattern. Lookonchain counted three attacks last week totaling $35.55 million, hitting AFX Trade, the Verus Ethereum bridge, and B2 Network.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights
The post WEMIX and Garden Hacks Add to Record 2026 Crypto Breaches appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Bitcoin ETFs post third straight weekly inflows despite $465 million in late-week losses
The U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have logged their first three-week inflows streak since early May.
These funds attracted $33.79 million in the week ended July 24. That figure would have been much bigger had it not been for net outflows of around $225.2 million and $240.1 million on July 23 and 24 respectively, according to data tracked by SoSoValue.
These late-week outflows also make the total weekly figure the smallest compared to the previous two weeks of inflows of $197 million and $75.67 million.
The story, therefore, is that institutional demand has returned, but it’s anemic and not as powerful as typically observed during bull runs.
“After May and June’s heavy outflows, July’s repair phase has brought relief, but institutional demand is still cautious,” crypto analytics firm BRN said in a email to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin rallied to a July high of over $66,500 on the Tuesday, before retreating below $64,000 by the end of the week, amid profit-taking and weak action in the stock market with the Nasdaq 100 pulled down by chipmaker stocks, a bellwether for the AI industry.
The dollar heads into a pivotal week trading near 101.80, just off a 15-month high, with the Fed’s July 29 meeting standing as the clear focal point. Markets currently price roughly a 65% chance of a hold, though renewed Middle East escalation has kept a hike back on the table for later this year. Energy remains the wildcard: the collapse of the Iran ceasefire and blockades affecting Persian Gulf shipping lanes have pushed oil higher, reigniting inflation concerns that could complicate the Fed’s messaging.
Adding to the uncertainty, private-sector hiring has slowed for a fourth straight week according to ADP data, even as jobless claims fell to a two-month low, painting a genuinely mixed labor picture. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Congressional testimony offered little directional clarity, reaffirming a commitment to price stability without tipping the committee’s hand.
With the ECB decision now behind markets and flash PMI data already digested, all eyes turn to Wednesday’s Fed decision as the week’s true catalyst, one capable of resolving—or extending—the dollar’s recent indecision.
Technical Analysis of the DXY
The coming week carries real technical weight, with the DXY caught in a hotly contested zone between 100.00 and 102.00. The Fed’s rate decision, and the volatility it brings, could well define the dollar’s path over the near to medium term.
Bullish Scenario
After a rough start to 2026, the DXY rebounded sharply from January’s 96-97 support, gaining roughly 6% since then. Having recently broken and held above the psychological 100.00 level, price now sits supported by both an ascending trendline and the 50-period EMA. A confirmed break above 102.00 would open the path toward 103-104, and eventually 106-107.
Bearish Scenario
The index is currently struggling at the 102.00 resistance. A rejection here, breaking the ascending trendline while respecting the longer-term descending trendline from 2025’s highs, would send price back to retest the critical 100.00 zone—and potentially, on a deeper break, all the way back to the 96-97 support.
With the Fed’s decision now just days away, the dollar finds itself standing exactly where it needs to: at the edge of a decision. Whether the DXY breaks free toward fresh highs or slips back into its earlier struggles, this week’s outcome won’t just move the greenback—it will set the tone for every asset priced against it heading into autumn.
Trade global index CFDs with zero commission and tight spreads (additional fees may apply). Open your FXOpen account now or learn more about trading index CFDs with FXOpen.
This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has pushed back on the idea that the rise of artificial intelligence will reduce the relevance of crypto. In a post on X on Sunday, Armstrong argued that “AI being a megatrend” does not replace crypto—if anything, it increases the need for programmable financial rails that can be used by autonomous software.
Armstrong framed his argument around “agentic finance,” describing Coinbase’s Base network alongside USDC and the company’s x402 payment protocol as key components for machine-to-machine payments. His comments also arrive as the broader crypto industry increasingly markets blockchain networks as payment infrastructure for AI agents.
Key takeaways
- Armstrong says AI agents will drive demand for programmable money, positioning crypto as more—not less—relevant.
- Coinbase’s agentic payments stack centers on Base, USDC, and x402, built for automated stablecoin transfers between applications.
- Chainalysis reported in June that agentic payments on Base via x402 surpassed 100 million transactions within about nine months of tracked activity.
- Regulators and traditional payment systems are still designed around human accounts, while x402 targets payment flows that can be triggered automatically.
Armstrong’s case: AI needs programmable payments
Armstrong’s argument is rooted in how autonomous systems are expected to operate. If AI agents can act independently—making purchases, paying for data, or settling for APIs—then they require a payment mechanism that software can initiate without relying on traditional banking checkout steps.
“AI being a megatrend takes nothing away from crypto,” Armstrong wrote on X, adding that agentic systems will instead create demand for programmable money. The underlying pitch is that blockchain-based payments are better suited to low-friction, automated interactions than systems that assume a human user completes each transaction.
How Base, x402, and USDC fit together
Armstrong’s “AiFi” framing points to a specific infrastructure stack rather than a broad concept. Base launched in 2023 as an Ethereum layer-2 network intended to improve the speed and cost of building onchain applications, with the design aimed at general-purpose use rather than solely AI payments.
In 2025, Coinbase introduced x402, a payment protocol built around the HTTP “402 Payment Required” concept. As Coinbase describes it, x402 enables automated stablecoin payments between software applications, allowing one system to pay another—such as for digital resources—without traditional account-based workflows. In practice, the protocol is intended to make it easier for autonomous agents to complete payments as part of a software interaction.
USDC is one of the stablecoins used within this ecosystem. Launched in 2018 by Circle and supported by the Coinbase-backed Centre Consortium, USDC provides the dollar-pegged unit that enables consistent value transfer for automated payments. Together, Base (execution environment), x402 (payment protocol), and USDC (payment asset) form the core of Coinbase’s current approach to agentic payments.
What Chainalysis measured on Base’s agentic payment flows
Beyond Coinbase’s product narrative, third-party analytics have begun to quantify activity. In a June report, Chainalysis said agentic payments on Base using x402 surpassed 100 million transactions within roughly nine months of activity.
According to Chainalysis, it identified agentic payment activity by tracking x402-related payment flows onchain. The firm stated that transactions worth at least $1 represented 95% of total transferred value, suggesting that the measured activity was not just tiny test transfers.
Chainalysis also reported behavioral differences between agentic payment wallets and the average Base user. It said agentic wallets were typically newer, tended to hold more asset types, and carried smaller balances than the broader user base.
Cointelegraph asked Chainalysis for updated x402 activity figures and additional details on how its methodology works, but the firm had not responded by publication time.
Separately, Cointelegraph had previously noted that agentic payment activity on Base topped 100 million transactions in June, citing the same kind of measurement that Chainalysis described.
Earnings and market attention on Coinbase’s infrastructure strategy
Armstrong’s push for “agentic finance” comes as Coinbase prepares to report second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Yahoo Finance data shows analysts’ average expectations for revenue of $1.29 billion, with sales projected to decline 13.8% compared to the same period last year. Earnings per share are expected to be flat.
While the earnings forecast does not directly measure Base or x402 usage, the timing matters: Coinbase is attempting to position its networks and payment rails as foundational plumbing for a new wave of automated transactions. For investors and builders, the key question is whether agentic payment volumes translate into sustained demand for onchain infrastructure—particularly if more AI-driven services embed payment logic as part of normal operation.
What to watch next is how quickly “agentic” payment flows evolve beyond early activity: updated figures from Chainalysis on x402 usage, whether more stablecoin-based automation moves from experimentation to production, and how clearly Coinbase can connect its infrastructure push to broader business performance. As AI agent adoption grows, the debate is likely to shift from whether crypto is “relevant” to whether crypto-based rails are practical enough to become the default mechanism for machine-initiated payments.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the artificial intelligence (AI) megatrend makes crypto more important, not less.
He argued that AI agents will become the largest transacting users of crypto rails.
How Could AI Make Crypto More Important?
In a post on X, Armstrong rejected the advice that people in crypto should pivot to AI. Armstrong called that framing zero-sum scarcity thinking.
The post arrives during a punishing year for digital assets. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen more than 25% in 2026. US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $4.5 billion of outflows in June. The drawdown has also weighed on crypto-linked stocks and platform activity.
AI-linked equities have moved in the opposite direction. The S&P 500 has gained roughly 9% this year, and AI names account for almost all of that advance.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
However, Armstrong disputed the competition concerns. He compared crypto to electricity and the internet. Both work as a base infrastructure that later technologies run on top of, he argued.
“AI being a megatrend takes nothing away from crypto. If anything, it makes crypto more important,” he wrote.
Armstrong argued that autonomous software cannot operate inside traditional finance. Agents cannot open bank accounts or wait 3 days for a wire.
Therefore, he said, they need programmable money in real time, and he pointed to crypto rails. Franklin Templeton made a similar case days earlier. Sandy Kaul, its head of digital assets, called agentic AI the killer use case driving blockchain adoption.
CZ made a similar forecast in January. The Binance founder told a World Economic Forum panel in Davos that agents would settle in crypto.
The sector’s most prominent voices have landed on the same thesis this year. Whether the usage figures will catch up will be a key trend to watch.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights
The post Brian Armstrong Says the AI Megatrend Makes Crypto More Important appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Decentralized cloud storage company Storj Labs has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia as it seeks to restructure its finances while keeping its business running without disruption.
In an open letter to its community, Storj’s management and board described the move as an accelerated financial reorganization designed to deal with obligations that largely predate its current business strategy.
The company said it had already scaled back its operations with a leaner team and tighter cost controls while continuing to receive support from Inveniam, but acknowledged that its historical liabilities could not be addressed through business growth alone.
Financial Overhaul
The team said the Chapter 11 process provides a transparent framework to resolve those obligations and gives the company time to present a long-term business plan. Storj also sought to reassure users and token holders that its decentralized storage network remains fully operational and that the utility of the STORJ token within the network has not changed as a result of the bankruptcy filing.
Following the news, STORJ crashed by over 17% to $0.06. The team acknowledged that while trading has been “quiet and low” for a long time, it said that there will be “no comments” on the token’s price during the process.
Storj said that it wants the company to ultimately be owned by those who built and supported it, including management, its decentralized community, token holders, and other investors. As part of its planned restructuring, the company intends to propose a mechanism that would allow token holders to participate in the equity of the restructured business. The eligibility requirements, structure, and terms have yet to be developed and will be disclosed through the formal court process.
Any such plan will require court approval and must comply with legal priorities governing different stakeholder groups.
Industry’s Latest Casualties
The filing comes during a month that has seen multiple crypto companies seek bankruptcy protection. On July 22, Singapore-based Bitcoin mining firm Poolin and its US affiliates, Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC, also filed for Chapter 11 in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Movement Labs sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware after months of financial troubles linked to its MOVE token launch.
Several other crypto companies have either shut down or begun winding down their operations. For instance, crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX announced it will permanently close on September 23 after more than 11 years in business. A few days later, BitMart also revealed plans to wind down its trading operations, while DEX aggregator Odos and exchange Dango announced they would discontinue their services.
The post Storj Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy as STORJ Token Plunges 17% appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Btc Live Trading | Crypto Live Trading | Live Trading | Live Crypto Trading | Bitcoin Live Trading
Pregnant woman among three stabbed in Paris knife rampage
Rocket Lab stock rises on $266M Space Force contract win
Renter of Home in Anne Heche Crash Denies Settlement With Son
No Jackpot Winner as $257 Million Prize Rolls Over to $269 Million Monday Draw
Weekend Open Thread: Staud – Corporette.com
Btc Live Trading | Crypto Live Trading | Live Trading | Live Crypto Trading | Bitcoin Live Trading
‘Love or Money’ FULL MOVIE | Angelica Panganiban, Coco Martin
RAID 2: MONEY MONEY (Song) | Yo Yo Honey Singh, Ajay Devgn, Jacqueline F, Riteish D | Bhushan Kumar
-
Fashion3 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Brooks Brothers
-
Crypto World6 days agoGrayscale Files For Worldcoin ETF, WLD Registers Sharp Rise
-
NewsBeat6 days agoHow a former Blue Peter presenter stunned America’s Got Talent judges
-
Tech6 days agoSail Virtually Aboard The “Itanic” With IA-64 Emulator
-
Tech11 hours agoIntel is reversing course and bringing hyper-threading back to its server chips
-
Tech6 days agoTurtle Beach Command Series KB7 review: a nifty screen-equipped gaming keyboard
-
Business5 days agoNew Jersey voter registration controversy explained: How 6,600 noncitizens got on the rolls, and what happens next
-
Entertainment6 days agoJohnny Depp’s R-Rated Gothic Cult Classic Gets New Release Ahead of Sydney Sweeney Remake
-
Tech7 days agoWatch Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley discuss the future of surveillance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
-
Crypto World4 days agoEthics, other provisions in crypto Clarity Act to be further discussed
-
NewsBeat6 days agoShanghai science forum photos show China’s AI and robotics advances in rivalry with US
-
Sports15 hours agoCommonwealth Games boxing: Jadumani Singh seals dominant 5-0 win over Pakistan’s Sumama Rehman to enter quarter-finals | Commonwealth Games News
-
News Videos4 days agoThe Peugeot Family: How 200 Years of an “Old Money” Dynasty Died in A Boardroom
-
Sports3 days ago2026 3M Open leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler finds putter in Round 1, sits three back
-
Politics23 hours agoSpain sweeps the board at 2026 World Cup with individual awards
-
Fashion3 days ago16 Dresses for the High Summer Event
-
Crypto World6 days agoAndrew Cuomo joins OKX board as crypto exchange expands in U.S.
-
Entertainment3 days agoA New Post-Apocalyptic Gundam Anime Series Blasts Into SDCC
-
News Videos15 hours agoBITCOIN JUST ENTERED THIS CRITICAL ZONE…
-
Crypto World1 day agoXRP Ledger adds $2.6B as RWA inflows rank second
You must be logged in to post a comment Login