US-based AI firm Anthropic warns AI development is advancing at a pace that could soon see agents building, training and improving themselves without human input, and recommends a slowdown in development.

In a blog post published Thursday, Marina Favaro, lead at the Anthropic Institute, and Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said agents can already run code themselves, delegate hours of work to other agents and could be on the cusp of taking over completely.

“For most of AI’s history, humans drove every step in its development cycle. But at Anthropic, we are delegating a growing share of AI development to AI systems themselves, which is speeding up our work,” they said.

“Taken far enough, and given enough compute, that trend points to an AI system capable of fully autonomously designing and developing its own successor,” Favaro and Clark added. 

AI development is advancing at a pace that could lead to agents improving without human input. Source: Anthropic

There are concerns over what could happen if AI is able to become smarter on its own. In December, OpenAI said it is researching how to safely develop and deploy increasingly capable AI, including AI capable of recursive self-improvement.

“We want these systems to consistently follow human intent in complex, real-world scenarios and adversarial conditions, avoid catastrophic behavior, and remain controllable, auditable, and aligned with human values,” it said.

The company is also hiring a researcher for recursive self-improvement preparedness, which forms part of its Safety Research team.

AI model improvement has been roughly doubling every four months, rather than every seven months, according to Favaro and Clark. The role of humans is narrowing at each step, with Anthropic’s Claude model authoring around 80% of the code merged into Anthropic’s codebase.

“We are not there yet, and recursive self-improvement is not inevitable. But it could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for,” they said.

“Once human- and AI-authored code quality reach parity, humans will stop writing code entirely and shift to only reviewing it. But if they can’t review code as quickly as Claude can generate it, human review will become the bottleneck to AI development,” they added.

Favaro and Clark also said that slowing development to allow more time to address its “immense” implications would be ideal.

Related: Modern robots impress, but are years away from replacing humans

In April, Anthropic ruled out releasing its AI model, Claude Mythos, to the public over concerns about the threat to global cybersecurity. 

Claude Mythos was able to easily create software exploits, leading Anthropic to rule out a public release for now. Source: Anthropic

At the same time, a group of tech leaders, including some from Anthropic and OpenAI, released an open letter on Thursday, urging lawmakers to enact stronger guardrails around the technology over concerns it could be used to overcome “knowledge barriers” that have historically prevented bad actors from creating biological weapons.

“We believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development to enable societal structures and alignment research to keep up with the advance of the technology,” Favaro and Clark said.

“But if a slowdown simply lets the least cautious actors catch up technologically, it could leave everyone less safe. Without a global coordination mechanism, companies and governments will have to make difficult decisions about safety while under competitive and geopolitical pressures.”

AI agents are becoming increasingly popular, including among crypto users. Some crypto executives have speculated that AI agents settling transactions could drive adoption and transaction volumes. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicted in January that billions of AI agents would operate on users’ behalf within five years.

Crypto investment firm Keyrock reported last month that AI agents settling payments went from concept to reality in the past 12 months, with $73 million settled across 176 million transactions.

Magazine: Korea’s first memecoin rug-pull case, China’s crypto rules review: Asia Express 

Strategy’s leveraged Bitcoin model is stressed, which could limit the firm’s ability to keep buying BTC and potentially force further sales, according to Grayscale.

“The shift in approach from one of the world’s largest BTC holders has weighed on market sentiment,” said Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, on Thursday. 

Michael Saylor’s Strategy sold 32 BTC on Monday, a tiny fraction of its total holdings of 843,706 BTC, but enough to rattle market sentiment as the asset has tanked by 16% since the sale. 

Strategy also sold $128 million worth of shares, and its stock value has declined by 12.8% since the sale to a two-month low of $126 on Thursday. 

BTC losses accelerated after Strategy sold and STRC declined. Source: Google Finance

Pandl warned this could have a greater impact on Stretch (STRC), the firm’s variable rate preferred equity instrument.

Stretch is designed to trade at a share price of around $100 and pay a dividend of 11.5%, but it is currently trading below that at around $95, meaning investors require a higher rate of return. 

If Strategy raises its dividend to compensate investors, it increases cash obligations, potentially forcing more BTC sales and further price pressure in a negative feedback loop.

“Strategy’s levered business model is under pressure, and this has increased the volatility for the BTC market as a whole,” said Pandl. 

He added that Grayscale thinks that Strategy will have a “limited ability to accumulate more tokens at current share prices for both STRC and MSTR.”

Related: Saylor downplays Bitcoin slide as Strategy faces $11B paper loss

Goldbug Peter Schiff said something similar on X on Thursday. If Strategy is forced to increase the dividend to return STRC to $100, the company “will run out of cash much sooner, pulling forward Bitcoin sales to fund payments.”

Pandl concluded, stating that less Bitcoin in leveraged corporate holdings would be healthier for the broader market and ecosystem.

“For the health of the Bitcoin ecosystem over the long run, less BTC on levered DAT [digital asset treasury] balance sheets and more on diversified corporate balance sheets will be a positive, in our view.”

It’s not all bearish for Saylor’s Strategy

Augustine Fan, partner at crypto software firm SignalPlus, told Cointelegraph on Friday that markets are blaming Strategy’s recent sales and STRC’s discount to par for driving the latest sell-off, “but the reality is that even the most ardent supporters are running out of reason to be structurally bullish.”

“All focus will be on the MSTR situation to see how Saylor manages to handle his liquidity strains by balancing dividend payments against STRC and the DAT holdings.”

Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, told Cointelegraph that Strategy’s first Bitcoin sale was an “important psychological trigger” for this week’s selloff. 

However, he said the move was more constructive than the market reaction implied, as it gives the company more flexibility. 

“Greater flexibility around selling Bitcoin can help Strategy manage balance sheet risk more prudently, rather than forcing itself into a one-way accumulation strategy under all market conditions.”

Magazine: Korea’s first memecoin rug-pull case, China’s crypto rules review: Asia Express

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK received 7 million British pounds ($9.4 million) from two crypto billionaires this year, with total funds raised outstripping all other political parties.

The party received a $4 million donation from Christopher Harborne, who has a stake in the stablecoin issuer Tether, and a $5.4 million donation from Ben Delo, the co-founder of the crypto exchange BitMEX, according to Electoral Commission data released on Thursday.

The Labour and Conservative parties each received around $5.4 million in the first quarter of the year. 

Reform UK has pitched itself as a pro-crypto party. It was the first UK political party to accept donations in Bitcoin (BTC), and Farage has proposed cutting capital gains taxes on crypto from 24% to 10%. He has also called for the Bank of England to create a Bitcoin reserve.

The crypto industry has been spending heavily on politics as it seeks to influence policy. In the US, crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) have recently spent millions to successfully back candidates who won primary elections ahead of the country’s midterm elections in November.

Nigel Farage speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas. Source: Gage Skidmore

Delo is a first-time donor to the right-wing populist party, while the latest donations bring Harborne’s total to $20 million in the past year.

Harborne had separately given Farage a $6.7 million personal gift, which is facing a probe by a parliamentary standards inquiry as to whether it should have been registered. 

Related: UK politician Nigel Farage bought $1.8M house after $6.7M crypto gift

Farage has said he didn’t need to declare the money as it was given before he was a member of parliament and was used to pay for personal security. He later claimed the gift was for successfully campaigning for the UK to leave the EU.

Reform’s fundraising in the first quarter has increased sixfold compared to the same time last year, when it received $2 million.

The total funding across all parties for the quarter had also more than doubled compared with a year ago.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026

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.

TLDR:

• ZEC dropped 48.4% to $272.79 on Binance following the Orchard pool soundness bug discovery.
• Total ZEC liquidations hit $81.91M in 24 hours, with $70.55M from long positions alone.
• Arthur Hayes sold his entire ZEC position after the Orchard exploit news broke publicly.
• A ZEC whale holding $174M saw holdings lose over $70M in value within a single trading day.

---

Zcash’s native token, ZEC, has dropped 48.4% in 24 hours, trading at $272.79 on Binance. The selloff follows a series of technical emergencies in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool, including a critical soundness bug and an emergency soft fork.

Liquidations hit $81.91 million, with long positions bearing the bulk of losses at $70.55 million. The crash erased billions in market value and shook confidence in ZEC’s recent bull run.

From Record Highs to Emergency Forks: The ZEC Timeline

Six days ago, ZEC appeared immune to broader market weakness. The token had surged more than 750% and was trading around $540–$560 when a critical soundness bug was discovered in the Orchard pool on May 29.

Shielded Labs uncovered the flaw during a routine audit before any exploit occurred. The find, however, set off a chain of emergency responses that ultimately unwound the rally.

On June 2, developers deployed an emergency soft fork at block 3,363,426. The fork disabled the Orchard pool entirely to prevent a potential double-spend attack.

At that point, ZEC was trading near $587, still holding most of its gains despite the severity of the protocol-level intervention.

By June 3, the NU6.2 hard fork went live, re-enabling Orchard with a patched circuit. Block explorers went dark for roughly four hours during the transition.

Social media was flooded with claims that Zcash was down, though the underlying chain never stopped producing blocks. ZEC pushed higher still, briefly touching $629.

The narrative then shifted sharply on June 4 and 5. Reports spread that Claude Opus 4.8 had in some capacity “broken” Zcash, fueling panic across trading desks.

The crowded long trade began reversing, and ZEC shed more than 30% as leveraged positions unwound rapidly across major exchanges.

The timeline illustrates how quickly sentiment can reverse in crypto markets. A token riding a multi-month rally on privacy narrative strength can lose nearly half its value in under 24 hours once confidence in the underlying protocol wavers.

Arthur Hayes Exits, Whale Absorbs $70M Loss

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes disclosed on X that he had sold his entire ZEC position following the Orchard pool exploit news.

Hayes had previously been one of ZEC’s most vocal proponents, publicly calling for a $10,000 price target. His rapid exit drew wide attention, with traders treating it as a directional signal to cut exposure.

On-chain analytics platform Arkham flagged a notable whale address that held approximately $174 million in ZEC before the crash.

Within 24 hours, the value of those holdings fell to less than half. The whale’s unrealized losses stood at roughly $70 million, with no ZEC sold over the prior six months.

The liquidation data adds further context to the scale of the unwind. CoinGlass recorded $81.91 million in total ZEC liquidations, with $70.55 million coming from long positions. 

Short liquidations accounted for the remaining $11.36 million, reflecting a market that was heavily positioned to the upside heading into the collapse.

Hayes’s exit, combined with his prior sales of HYPE and NEAR, drew commentary on X. One account noted that his so-called “holy trinity” of positions had unwound in under six days, raising questions about broader positioning shifts among prominent crypto traders.

The ZEC crash serves as a reminder that protocol-level vulnerabilities, however quickly patched, can permanently alter market structure around an asset.

Bitcoin BTC$61,875.23 continues to lose ground and the price is fast closing on $60,000 amid record ETF outflows.

The $60,000 level has been widely cited by analysts as a major support, below which the selloff could get even uglier.

Jean-David Péquignot, the chief commercial officer at leading crypto options exchange Deribit said that price is critical not just because it’s a round-number psychological level. More importantly, it’s a structural threshold with real consequences for institutions and derivatives market participants.

The cost basis problem

According to Péquignot, a significant chunk of institutional money — comprising ETF buyers, large holders and short-term speculators — bought bitcoin at prices between $60,000 and $67,000 over the past year.

With the largest cryptocurrency now trading within that range, these buyers are sitting at or near their cost basis, essentially at break-even. If prices drop further, unrealized or paper losses will mount and holding becomes expensive, especially when AI stocks and other parts of the traditional market are rallying like there is no tomorrow.

“As price undercuts their cost basis, the resulting unrealized losses may incentivize rushed selling, especially as the opportunity cost of holding BTC rises against a surging AI equity sector,” he said.

Michael Saylor, the high-profile executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded bitcoin holder, also blamed capital rotation for recent BTC losses.

The derivatives problem

Things become mechanical after that.

On Deribit, there is over $1.2 billion in notional open interest sitting at the $60,000 strike put options, which pay out if prices fall below that level. Investors have bought these as a hedge against a protracted selloff.

The problem, however, is that market makers, who are on the opposite side of the investors, are now short puts, or more precisely, “short gamma.”

So, as BTC nears $60,000, market makers and dealers will be forced to sell spot BTC or futures to balance their books. Other things being equal, this hedging can accelerate the selloff, turning an orderly decline into a chaotic one, Péquignot said.

He also pointed out that there are too many leveraged longs in the system, and a break below $60,000 could lead to more liquidations, adding to downside momentum.

“With leverage still not fully flushed from the system, a break of $60K could rapidly worsen collateral metrics, triggering a cascading wave of automated long liquidations,” he said.

Note that billions of dollars of leveraged longs, or bullish plays tied to BTC and other tokens, have already been liquidated this week.

Key Takeaways

• Forward Industries transferred 455,784 SOL (approximately $31.87M) to Coinbase Prime following 30 days of wallet dormancy
• The transaction has sparked widespread speculation about a possible liquidation event
• Since September 2025, Forward Industries accumulated 6.83 million SOL for approximately $1.59 billion
• With an average entry price of $232.08 per token, the portfolio is currently valued at roughly $458.6 million
• Forward Industries faces an unrealized deficit approaching $1.13 billion on its Solana investment

---

Forward Industries has transferred 455,784 SOL tokens to Coinbase Prime, representing approximately $31.87 million in current market value. Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain identified the transaction, which occurred after 30 consecutive days without any on-chain activity from the company’s wallet.

Forward Industries, Inc., FWDI

When institutional holders move substantial cryptocurrency amounts to centralized trading platforms, market observers typically interpret this as preparation for liquidation. Forward Industries has remained silent on the reasoning behind this transfer.

The firm initiated its Solana accumulation program in September 2025, deploying approximately $1.59 billion to acquire 6.83 million SOL tokens at a mean cost of $232.08 each.

SOL currently trades significantly beneath that acquisition average. The aggregate portfolio value stands at approximately $458.6 million, resulting in an unrealized deficit nearing $1.13 billion.

This represents a substantial paper loss for an investment approach centered on strategic accumulation and long-term positioning.

An Aggressive Strategy Meets Harsh Reality

Forward Industries positioned itself among the most bullish institutional Solana accumulators in the public markets. The company’s approach closely resembled MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin playbook — systematic purchasing with conviction through market cycles.

However, SOL’s price action has remained unfavorable. The cryptocurrency hasn’t reached the price levels necessary to restore the position to profitability.

While the Coinbase Prime deposit doesn’t definitively indicate liquidation, it establishes the operational framework to execute such a transaction with minimal delay.

Blockchain Analytics Reveal the Details

Lookonchain’s blockchain surveillance confirmed the 455,784 SOL moved in one transaction following a complete month without meaningful wallet activity.

Such abrupt movements from recognized institutional wallets frequently influence market dynamics. Solana market participants and technical analysts have maintained close surveillance on this wallet since the transfer was detected.

Wu Blockchain reported on X that this positions Forward Industries as the largest corporate SOL holder to have potentially liquidated — or prepared to liquidate — a portion of its holdings.

It’s important to understand that Coinbase Prime serves as both a custody solution and trading infrastructure for institutional clients. While asset transfers to the platform don’t guarantee immediate sales, such moves typically serve specific strategic purposes.

Forward Industries deployed roughly $1.59 billion constructing this position. Today, its complete 6.83 million Solana holdings carry a market value of approximately $458.6 million.

The differential between acquisition cost and present valuation represents the central narrative.

The company has issued no official statement clarifying whether this deposit signals the beginning of portfolio liquidation or constitutes standard treasury operations.

As of June 5, the 455,784 SOL transfer to Coinbase Prime represents the latest verified on-chain transaction from Forward Industries.

Key Takeaways

• PL shares decline despite achieving 42% quarterly revenue expansion and AI advancement
• Stock retreats overnight as expanding losses overshadow impressive revenue performance
• Company achieves best-ever quarterly sales but shares slip following earnings announcement
• PL experiences downward pressure as AI satellite deployment accelerates amid growing deficit
• Backlog soars 72% year-over-year while shares face post-earnings selloff

Shares of Planet Labs (PL) experienced overnight declines despite the company delivering exceptional quarterly sales figures and robust backlog expansion. Trading closed at $43.53, gaining 0.93%, before retreating to $41.77, declining 4.04%, following the earnings release. The downturn reflected investor concerns despite the company’s advancing revenue metrics and expanding AI-powered satellite operations.

Planet Labs PBC, PL

Company Delivers Best-Ever Quarterly Sales Alongside Expanded Deficit

Planet Labs disclosed fiscal 2027 first-quarter revenue totaling $94.2 million for the three-month period concluding April 30, 2026. Sales climbed 42% compared to the corresponding period last year, driven by improved performance from both sales teams and delivery operations. Additionally, the organization maintained 99% recurring annual contract value by quarter’s end.

The satellite imaging provider recorded an expanded net deficit of $138.9 million throughout the reporting period. This compares unfavorably to the $12.6 million loss registered during the matching quarter in fiscal 2026. The company attributed a substantial portion of the increase to a $106.5 million non-cash loss stemming from warrant liability revaluation.

Additionally, Planet disclosed an adjusted EBITDA deficit of $1.0 million for the three-month period. Free cash outflow measured negative $2.5 million, whereas operational cash generation reached $15.4 million. The organization concluded the quarter holding $730.8 million across cash accounts, equivalents, and short-dated investment instruments.

Defense and Government Agreements Drive Future Revenue Visibility

The company announced backlog expansion of 72% on a year-over-year basis, surpassing $906 million. This metric provides enhanced predictability for upcoming revenue recognition periods. Furthermore, contract additions and renewals demonstrated sustained appetite from governmental and defense sector clients.

Throughout the reporting period, Planet executed an eight-figure annual agreement with an overseas defense and intelligence organization. This arrangement provides the client with extensive high-resolution tasking capabilities and analytical platform access. The firm additionally obtained National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency contracts supporting maritime monitoring and emergency response operations.

The organization secured a six-month extension valued at $7.5 million from the U.S. Navy. This contract facilitates vessel identification and tracking throughout critical Pacific regions. Additional partnerships were established with governmental entities including Greece, the Czech Paying Agency, Scotland, and various other international partners.

Artificial Intelligence Satellite Deployment Strengthens Technology Portfolio

Planet Labs advanced both its orbital constellation and artificial intelligence product initiatives throughout the quarter. During May, three supplementary AI-capable Pelican satellites launched via SpaceX transportation. This deployment elevated the company’s operational high-resolution Pelican satellite count to nine.

The launch mission incorporated Sweden’s inaugural sovereign reconnaissance satellite. The company noted this satellite reached orbit merely four months following contract execution. This achievement underscored the organization’s accelerated production timeline for defense-oriented satellite programs.

The firm additionally introduced a private beta artificial intelligence application enabling natural language-based satellite imagery queries. This technology empowers users to explore Planet’s extensive archive, conduct temporal analysis, and produce automated reports. Concurrently, SuperRes and Pelican-11 capabilities provided additional enhancement to the company’s high-resolution imaging development pipeline.

7RCC Global has launched trading of BTCK, an exchange-traded fund that allocates 80% to Bitcoin and 20% to regulated carbon credit futures, bringing one of the crypto industry’s earliest ESG-focused ETF concepts to the public market.

According to a press release shared with crypto.news, the 7RCC Spot Bitcoin and Carbon Credit Futures ETF began trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker BTCK, giving investors access to Bitcoin and carbon credit futures through a single listed product. The fund tracks the 7RCC Kaiko Bitcoin Carbon Credit Index and is structured to follow daily changes in the value of both asset classes, minus expenses.

Under the fund’s investment framework, approximately 80% of assets are allocated to Bitcoin, while the remaining 20% is invested in carbon credit futures tied to regulated emissions markets, including the European Union Emissions Trading System, California Cap-and-Trade, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The launch arrives as competition among crypto ETF issuers continues to intensify. In recent weeks, firms including Grayscale, 21Shares and Bitwise have expanded offerings linked to digital assets such as Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, while issuers have increasingly sought differentiated strategies beyond traditional spot cryptocurrency exposure.

Bitcoin ETF adds carbon market exposure

Unlike conventional spot Bitcoin ETFs, BTCK combines exposure to the cryptocurrency market with regulated environmental commodities. According to 7RCC Global, Bitcoin adoption trends and monetary factors influence one side of the portfolio, while emissions policies and compliance demand drive the carbon credit allocation.

“We started 7RCC because we believed digital assets would become a permanent part of the global financial system and that investors would want them in familiar, regulated structures built for the long term,” said Rali Perduhova, co-founder and chief executive officer of 7RCC Global.

Perduhova said the product combines “two asset classes driven by distinct market forces” and provides investors with a transparent way to access exposures that have historically been difficult to hold within a single investment vehicle.

As previously reported by crypto.news, nearly two and a half years ago, 7RCC filed plans with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an ESG-oriented Bitcoin ETF built around the same 80/20 allocation model. At the time, industry observers, including ETF analyst Nate Geraci, viewed the proposal as one of the first attempts to merge spot Bitcoin exposure with environmental market investments.

Carbon credits gain institutional attention

Interest in carbon-related financial products has also expanded among major financial institutions. In July 2025, Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan’s blockchain division, Kinexys, partnered with S&P Global Commodity Insights, EcoRegistry and the International Carbon Registry to test the tokenization of carbon credits on blockchain infrastructure.

According to Bloomberg, the project explored ways to improve transparency and record-keeping in carbon markets by converting registry-held credits into blockchain-based tokens. JPMorgan said the effort formed part of its work in climate finance and carbon market infrastructure.

For BTCK, carbon credit exposure remains tied to regulated futures contracts rather than tokenized credits. Still, the fund enters a market where both digital assets and environmental commodities have attracted growing institutional interest.

According to 7RCC Global, investors can access BTCK through brokerage accounts that support listed ETFs without opening cryptocurrency exchange accounts or maintaining digital asset wallets.

BTCK is a series of Teucrium Commodity Trust, sponsored by Teucrium Trading LLC, with PINE Distributors LLC serving as marketing agent. Gemini Trust Company holds the fund’s Bitcoin, while U.S. Bank acts as cash custodian and administrator. The index is administered by Kaiko and calculated by Solactive AG.