Autor Cointelegraph By Andrew Fenton

Crypto’s moment of CLARITY arrivesThe CLARITY act heads for a crucial Senate vote on September 15, with Politico reporting that Democrat senators were called to a meeting on Sunday by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss their position. While Polymarket puts the odds of CLARITY becoming law this year at just 24%, the odds of there being 60 votes in favor of the cloture vote on Tuesday are higher, as it would simply move the bill into the amendment and debate phase. That’s where the rubber would hit the road on issues that have drained support so far including ethics provisions for elected officials, stablecoin yield, and protections for decentralized developers. The bill has now doubled in size to more than 630 pages since the first draft was released in May 2025. It follows a year’s worth of work by both Democrat and Republican senators. A new draft was released last week with 14 pages of new text directing the SEC and CFTC to determine whether those in control of “non-decentralized finance trading protocols” must comply with securities, commodities and anti-money laundering requirements. That version didn’t include any of the big changes to the ethics provisions the Democrats have demanded as a red line for supporting the bill. President Donald Trump reportedly met with advisors late last week to discuss whether he’d agree to further curbs on his multi billion dollar crypto empire. On the weekend White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt posted that it was a “bad day to be a Clarity Act doomer.”  A new 635 page version of the bill landed today, including “new, White House-blessed government ethics language covering federal officials’ engagements with digital assets” according to Politico. Senator Cynthia Lummis said the White House has agreed to a “meaningful” role for state Attorney Generals in enforcement of the provisions, which the Democrats have been pushing for as they don’t trust the Department of Justice to prosecute the President.Altcoin Daily claimed the combination of the CLARITY vote, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions and other positive developments could make this “crypto’s biggest week ever.”Carl Higbie from NewsMax predicted a sea change for crypto businesses and hodlers if the bill passes, claiming that “banks would shift trillions into this market overnight. Thousands of people, maybe even you, if you hold a little bit of it, would become millionaires overnight.” This is not a particularly likely scenario at this point in time, but it’s nice to dream. Big AI bosses agree to a slowdown over agent swarm fearsAnthropic CEO Dario Amodei put out a blog on the weekend calling for a slowdown in the speed of AI development that he believes is threatening to “outrun our ability to understand and control these systems.”Amodei cited the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident in July, in which a swarm of agents broke out of containment and hacked another firm. He predicted that in just six to 12 months’ time, such a swarm might be capable of taking over the entire internet. Amodei is not alone in his anxieties with Elon Musk, head of SpaceXAI, posting on X that “Dario is right” and OpenAI boss Sam Altman agreeing. OpenAI has put plans for an IPO this year on ice. Some are predicting that Monday could see a bloodbath in AI stocks, which now account for most of the US stock market’s performance. “AI stocks will drop 10%+ on Monday morning. Brace for impact folks,” said Jason Calacanis, entrepreneur and podcaster. However the after hours prices of SpaceX and Nvidia remained steady on the weekend. Source: Jason CalacanisThe big AI companies may be considering the legal ramifications of developing technology that can autonomously hack or harm others. On Thursday Anthropic reported that Russian- and Chinese-speaking operators have been using Claude to automate cyberattacks. The question of who is legally liable when an AI agent goes rogue is not yet settled, but both developers and deployers could face expensive lawsuits. In related news Anthropic is in talks with Nvidia about a potential $10 billion investment in what may still end up as the biggest IPO in history. Anthropic is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion in the offering, which could value the AI company at about $2 trillion.Blockstream refuses to pay hacker bounty for 600 BTC ‘theft’Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream has refused to pay a ransom to recover funds still held by the Liquid Network hackers.“Taking assets without authorization and withholding their return is a crime, not responsible disclosure,” Blockstream said Friday. “It is not white-hat activity. It is theft.”The company said it had engaged with the hackers in good faith to recover user funds but would not accept their demands.Claiming to be “white hat hackers” the actors drained Liquid of 4000 Bitcoin last week, before returning 3,400 Bitcoin. They have since demanded that Blockstream pay a 10% bounty from its own funds.The security bugs have now been patched and the Liquid Network has restarted. Calle from the Bitcoin Red Team, which used AI to audit hundreds of Bitcoin protocols following the Coldcard thefts, said Blockstream had not acted on the Red Team’s warnings about the vulnerabilities. Samson Mow denied the claim.In a related development Ledger chief technology officer Charles Guillemet said artificial intelligence has made bugs easier to find and exploit. He warned that some researchers are publishing their findings before fixes are available, a practice he called “attention farming with someone else’s risk.” Guillemet urged researchers to report bugs privately and agree on a timeline for fixes before publishing detailsRobinhood’s crypto volume increases 61% in AugustRobinhood’s crypto trading volume rose 61% month-on-month to $17.5 billion in August, though it remained 38% below the year-earlier level.The online brokerage said in its August 2026 monthly operating report that Bitstamp (which it acquired in June 2025) accounted for $10.1 billion of the total, while the Robinhood app accounted for $7.4 billion.Meanwhile, the firms new Ethereum L2, Robinhood Chain, is expected to generate as much as $160 million in annual fees by 2028, according to a new report from Bernstein. The analysts cited growing demand for tokenized stock trading on the network, which has grown to account for about 27% of the chain’s total trading volume, while memecoin trading has decreased to 36% of network activity, down from 100% at launch on July 1.Revolut says customer data exposed through fake government emailFinancial tech and banking company Revolut has admitted it was tricked by scammers into releasing sensitive customer data, including copies of passports, verification selfies and full transaction histories.The company received a fraudulent request that appeared to be from a legitimate government agency email domain and released the information. Customers whose information was compromised were notified on Friday. According to the International Cyber Digest the scammers have now begun drip feeding sensitive customer data on to the web, including that of high-profile clients such as tennis player Shevchenko and Römer, CEO of Gamdom/Skinscom.“They want Revolut to pay up. They say they’ll release more messages, data and insights into how the Revolut team operates.”The hackers have accused the company of negligence around privacy and the exposure of sensitive information.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 4% to trade at $76,800, Ethereum (ETH) is down 1.4% to trade at $2,478 and XRP (XRP) is down 5.6% to $1.34. The total market cap is at $2.61 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Venice Token (VVV) with a 26.2% gain, Falcon Finance (FF) on 20.4%, and Filecoin (FIL) on 17.2%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pons (PONS) which was down 33.7%, Arbitrum (ARB) down 29.6% and Dash (DASH) down 25.2%.Prediction of the Week85% chance of US interest rate hike this week The August release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), came in at 3.4% year-on-year and met expectations. In response, traders doubled down on bets that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by 0.25% at its Sept. 16 meeting. The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed odds of such an outcome rising to 85% on Friday, increasing from 60% a week ago.Top FUD of the WeekNorth Korea using foreign talent to help infiltrate US companiesNorth Korea (DPRK) is now using remote workers from third countries, including Iran and Lebanon, to aid its efforts to infiltrate US companies and obtain money to fund its weapons programs, NBC reported on Friday.As the US and other governments have moved to counter North Korea’s efforts, the DPRK has turned increasingly to third-country IT workers to pass job interviews, the report said. After work contracts are obtained, the positions are usually taken over by North Korean operatives. Foreign IT workers have been scouted on LinkedIn, with some offered $500 monthly in cryptocurrency to work part-time as “interview associates.”Hunter Biden denies profiting from memecoin after his LAPTOP crashesHunter Biden has denied profiting from his LAPTOP memecoin after its launch-day price crash.Several X users accused the LAPTOP project of a “rug pull” after the memecoin lost more than 95% of its value in the first hour of trading on Wednesday. “The team’s allocation is locked. Nobody on our side sold, and nobody could have,” Biden said in an X post Wednesday. “I, personally, have not made a single dollar.”Biden blamed the price action on insufficient liquidity and “snipers,” which are trading bots that quickly swoop up tokens when trading opens.Bitcoin ETF outflows accelerate as investors pull $449M in three daysUS spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have registered their largest daily outflow in nearly two months, reversing part of the $3.8 billion in net inflows recorded during the funds’ strongest three-week stretch of 2026.The spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs logged $282.6 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the largest net outflow since the $424.7 million outflow recorded on July 13, according to SoSoValue data. Bitcoin ended up recording a negative week with $462.73 of outflows, while Ethereum ETF weekly inflows were positive at $197.11 million.Top Magazine Stories of the WeekWhy would anyone want to trade a healthcare stock for a memecoin like BONER? Why wouldn’t they, ask the degens on Robinhood Chain who are building a strange new corner of DeFi.From the whereabouts of the CryptoQueen to a mysterious death involving a DeFi builder paranoid about the “pedo elite,” here are 10 crypto mysteries that still have no good answer.Bitcoin believers see it as an almost certain long-term investment, but retirement demands a different approach. How much crypto exposure is too much for your retirement account?Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

JAPANMetaplanet’s executive stock pool sparks shareholder backlashJapanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet’s executive stock pool continues to draw shareholder backlash over stock dilution concerns. Multiple shareholders objected across social media to Metaplanet’s 10th Series executive option pool, which was designed as 20% of fully diluted shares and automatically expanded as the company issued new shares to fund its Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation.Some shareholders are now asking Metaplanet to cancel the additional 273 million shares created from the changes and to provide more transparency on future decisions.Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey defended Metaplanet and said that giving the team 20% of the cap table over five years “isn’t some crazy number” but many shareholders disagree.Citi plans fast cross-border blockchain paymentsCiti plans to offer Japanese companies near-instant international payments through blockchain-based infrastructure, including outside standard banking hours.SE ASIASingapore takes the lead as SE Asia funding doubles to $680 millionInvestment in south east asian crypto firms doubled between 2025 and 2026, with the region recording 25 funding rounds worth $680 million in 2026. That’s up from just 319 million according to private market data platform Tracxn. Unfortunately the figures mean more funds are going to fewer companies, as there were 46 funding rounds last year. Singapore has taken out the number one spot as Asia’s preeminent crypto hub, and is home to 2,285 of the 3,957 blockchain companies in the entire region. It has also accounted for 82.5% of all time blockchain equity funding tracked across the region. US sanctions Xinbi scam marketplaceUnited States authorities restrained more than $52 million in crypto linked to scam marketplace Xinbi Guarantee and its vendor network as part of a coordinated operation. The US Justice Department said its Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets used by Xinbi to collect vendor payments containing about $12 million. Law enforcement also sought restraints against 47 additional wallets believed to be connected to money laundering across Xinbi’s network. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Xinbi as a significant transnational criminal organization. OFAC also sanctioned Singapore-based SafeW Technology and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology for allegedly providing technological and financial support to Xinbi. SINGAPOREGemini receives Singapore payment license for crypto servicesCrypto exchange Gemini has received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), completing its transition from the in-principle approval granted nearly two years ago. MPI license holders can provide regulated payment services without the transaction-volume limits imposed on standard payment institutions. Gemini President and co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said the exchange has served customers in Singapore since 2020, while CEO Tyler Winklevoss described the country as a strategic hub for serving retail and institutional clients.Circle to buy Tazapay for $400MUSDC issuer Circle has agreed to pay $400 million to acquire Singapore based cross border payments company Tazapay, which has more than 60 bank and fintech partners across 100 different markets. SOUTH KOREASouth Korean regulators introduce tokenized securities roadmapSouth Korea’s Financial Services Commission (SFC) introduced a three-phase roadmap to develop infrastructure for tokenized securities issuance, for assets including stocks, bonds and funds.Starting Feb. 4, 2027, tokenized securities will be legally recognized as digitized forms of securities after an update to the Act on Electronic Registration of Stocks and Bonds is scheduled to take effect.The first phase will offer tokenized securities legal recognition, including for institutional money market funds, bonds, unlisted stocks and fractional investment securities. Phase two would expand tokenization to all publicly offered securities, while phase three aims for onchain payments linked to stablecoins.Won stablecoins could save merchants $3.8 billion annuallySouth Korea’s National Assembly Budget Office says that won-denominated stablecoins could reduce South Korean merchants’ annual payment fees by between $275 million and $3.8 billion annually. INDIAIndia’s Arya.ag to put grain ownership records on AvalancheIndian agricultural warehousing and lending company Arya.ag is testing a system to tokenize warehouse receipts for stored grain on a dedicated Avalanche layer-1 blockchain. Arya.ag is working with Finternet to connect grain deposits, warehouse receipts, collateral commitments and loan status through the network.Devika Mittal, Ava Labs’ head of India, told Cointelegraph that testing was underway and said each tokenized receipt would represent ownership of the stored commodity. The companies did not disclose an expected launch date or how much grain or lending the initial deployment would cover.India’s FIU cracks down on money laundering complianceIndia’s Financial Intelligence Unit issued non-compliance notices to 15 offshore virtual digital-asset service providers for alleged AML failures. The agency also sought takedowns of relevant applications and URLs, accusing them of serving Indian customers without proper controls.Indian crypto regulation to be discussed next weekIndia’s Finance Ministry is expected to appear before a parliamentary panel on September 16, with the discussion focused on the taxation and regulation of virtual digital assets.THAILANDWebull buys Pi Securities for $100MThailand’s Webull Securities has completed the acquisition of long established tradfi securities and investment services firm Pi Securities for $100 million.PHILIPPINESPhilippines eyes payment operator registration freezeThe Philippines’ central bank has proposed freezing new payment-system operator registrations for 12 months while imposing tighter controls on payment arrangements involving virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Under a draft circular, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it would suspend acceptance and processing of applications for operators of payment systems (OPS) to conduct a “holistic review” of its taxonomy and licensing framework. HONG KONGChelsea’s USDC Jersey sponsorship creates problems in Hong KongCircle’s USDC jersey sponsorship deal with the Chelsea Football Club has created headaches in Hong Kong, where unlicensed crypto promotions are penalized and local merchants have been hesitant to sell the jersey.Boyaa Interactive buysaa BitcoinHong Kong-listed gaming company Boyaa Interactive has purchased another 115 Bitcoin, adding to its treasury holdings.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

Liquidated: ‘All your Bitcoin are belong to us’A shade under 4000 Bitcoin worth $319 million has been taken from Liquid Network — with purported “white hat” hackers claiming responsibility. An unverified OP_RETURN message read: “we are whitehats. contact us on chain.”  The Blockstream-run Bitcoin sidechain has paused bridge nodes and told exchanges to pause LBTC deposits and withdrawls as the team attempts to contact the attackers and identify the security holes. The Liquid explorer shows the balance of its federation wallet dropped from 4,200 BTC down to just 207.275 BTC.Under normal Liquid mechanics, LBTC is burned on the sidechain before Bitcoin is withdrawn. In simple terms, the transaction needs to be authorized by an 11 of 15 multisig with funds sent to an approved whitelist.    Liquid Network posted earlier today that: “the funds were withdrawn via the SideSwap PAK (Peg-out Authorization Key), but that key was not compromised, nor were any others.” “Bridge nodes have been temporarily disabled, so no new transactions can be submitted to the network. Effectively, the Liquid sidechain is paused until this issue is resolved.”Crypto analyst DBCrypto noted that: “the coins aren’t running and they’re just sitting on Bitcoin and haven’t been mixed. That’s more consistent with a whitehat extraction than a theft.” But he said the incident raised some big questions about security on the sidechain. “Either 11 of 15 functionaries signed this off, or the whitelist built to prevent exactly this didn’t hold. Neither answer makes Liquid look good.”The funds were sent via Sideswap. It subsequently posted that its key had not been compromised and that: “Blockstream has since established that the L-BTC in that order was created through a bug in the Elements software.”At the time of writing Blockstream and Adam Back had not posted about the incident on X but Jan3 CEO Samson Mow said: “Everyone is actively working to resolve this…These are difficult times but we’ll pull through.”  Source: Liquid NetworkBitcoin ETF inflows hit $3.8B in strongest three-week stretch of 2026While Bitcoin is yet to hold above the 50-week moving average that would confirm a bull market, there are other signs bull market conditions are returning. The US spot Bitcoin ETFS have just recorded their strongest three-week inflow stretch of 2026 as Bitcoin trades just above $80,000.The funds attracted $986.9 million in the week ending Friday, bringing net inflows over the past three weeks to $3.8 billion, according to SoSoValue data.Total net assets across the funds stood at $101.3 billion on Friday, while cumulative net inflows reached $55.6 billion. On Thursday the Bitcoin ETFs recorded $730.9 million in net inflows, for the strongest showing since Jan. 14.AMC boss cracks it over Robinhood’s tokenized stocksRobinhood has been a stunning success so far, leading chains for daily fees and flipping Solana’s 24 hour DEX volume. It’s token launchpad PONS even broke into the Top 100 coins this week with a stunning 140% gain. Part of the interest has been in the Ethereum L2’s pairing of memecoins with tokenized stocks like AMC.But while crypto degens love it, AMC’s CEO Adam Aron is less than impressed and has threatened to send in the lawyers over the chain’s “outrageous” decision to tokenize AMC stock without his express permission. He wrote on X:“I find this practice to be contemptible, outrageous, disgusting, detestable, inexcusable, vile. How can it possibly be legal? We have no connection to this at all, and do not condone it in any way. “ Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev trolled him by asking blithely: “What’s the concern?” which sent Aron off on another rant about Robinhood’s “shocking and shameful” conduct. He called on them to “CEASE AND DECIST (sic)” and said the SEC could not possibly support Robinhood’s “sham ignoring of US securities laws. You can be sure we will be asking them.”Robinhood’s chief legal officer Dan Gallagher — a former SEC commissioner — wrote back:“We know a little something about the U.S. securities laws and will not “DECIST.” Send your lawyers and we’ll educate them.”What a savage.Source: Dan GallagherBofA, Citi, Goldman Sachs among 21 institutions planning stablecoin launchA group of 21 major financial institutions plans to establish a new company to develop and issue stablecoins.The consortium, announced Tuesday, includes Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Santander, MUFG and Fidelity Investments. It plans to launch a US dollar-denominated stablecoin in the first half of 2027, subject to the company’s formation and other conditions.According to the announcement, the group ultimately plans to expand into stablecoins denominated in other G7 currencies, with a euro offering identified as its next priority.In other news that crypto is playing with the big boys now, the G20 member nations put out a joint statement supporting crypto as a transformative way to bring about “broad-based economic growth.” It committed member nations to “advancing responsible and effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks that preserve financial stability, support economic growth, and establish clear pathways for sound digital financial and digital assets innovation.”Kalshi bans Santos for life as states attempt to ban Kalshi for lifePrediction market platform Kalshi has banned ousted Republican lawmaker George Santos for life for allegedly using insider information for trading on event contracts. It’s one of the first lifetime bans the company has imposed since its launch in 2021. Kalshi said that Santos had been betting on markets involving his own actions, and stated he had “engaged in trading activity in certain markets related to his attendance at the State of the Union address” in February 2026.In response to the ban, Santos called Kalshi an “unserious company.” Meanwhile New Jersey’s Attorney General officially petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear a case aimed at resolving whether state authorities or federal agencies have jurisdiction over prediction market companies. Officials cited civil cases brought by gaming authorities in “at least 20 states” that required the court to decide if state laws or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rules took precedence. “These companies have no right to offer their sports bets without following state law, which is why dozens of States across the ideological spectrum have opposed them […] We’re calling on the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law.”Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is up 2.6% to trade at $80,234, Ethereum (ETH) is up 2.3% to trade at $2,513 and XRP (XRP) is up 3% to $1.42. The total market cap is at $2.72 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Pons (PONS) with a 140% gain, Arbitrum (ARB) on 116%, and Dash (DASH) on 66%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pump.fun (PUMP) which was down 13.2%, Canton (CC) down 6.9% and Official Trump (TRUMP) down 4.1%.Top Prediction of the WeekBTC will hit $1M by 2030… but Arthur Hayes is buying ETH insteadBitMEX founder Arthur Hayes told Cointelegraph the collapse of the AI bubble, “massive” money printing, and potential US yield curve control are among some of the reasons why Bitcoin could go to $1 million by 2030. “We have the ingredients. The time is now. So I think the $58,000 was probably the bottom in Bitcoin, and now it’s going to grind higher in this hate fuck rally,” the 41-year-old billionaire said. But he added the best risk reward adjusted bet in crypto right now wasn’t Hyperliquid, but ETH and he’s been amassing a sizeable position. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that Hyperliquid won’t rise in price. I just don’t think it’s poised for a 5x, and like where I think Ethereum could do, you know, 3x to 5x pretty quickly,” he said.Top FUD of the WeekEl Salvador’s post-review Bitcoin accumulation used no public funds: IMFEl Salvador used no public resources to accumulate Bitcoin after the first review of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing program in June 2025, according to reports this week.The IMF reportedly said documents supplied by Salvadoran authorities verified that the accumulation came from private donations. That would mean the increase in El Salvador’s holdings did not reflect additional Bitcoin purchases financed with government resources. The IMF also said majority ownership and operational control of the Chivo wallet had been transferred to a private operator, while the government retained a minority stake and custodial responsibilities.But President Nayib Bukele called the story “fake news” and said the claim that El Salvador had transferred its Bitcoin returns to a private party was “TOTALLY FALSE.” He pointed to this IMF link as evidence:“Read it. It clearly says the opposite: that the only thing that was transferred were Chivo shares, something that was offered a year and a half ago, and NOT the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.”Fake Claude desktop app spreads crypto-stealing malwareA fake Claude desktop application is reportedly being used to distribute RevStealer, a Windows malware strain built to steal crypto, password and browser data.According to a Monday report by cybersecurity company Morphisec, RevStealer was previously distributed through GitHub repositories and game-cheat-themed sites but the most notable is a fake “Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop” project that impersonates AI developer Anthropic and promises free access to Claude.The researchers noted that the malware is designed to leave few traces and searches browser databases, cookies, password-manager records, VPN and remote-access settings, messaging data, screenshots and selected documents. RevStealer also targets over 50 cryptocurrency wallets.Hyperscale Data ends Michigan BTC mining as holdings fall 79%Hyperscale Data has ended all Bitcoin mining operations at its Michigan facility as it prepares the site for an artificial intelligence data center customer. On Wednesday, the company said that all Bitcoin miners at the facility were switched off and that it intends to sell the associated mining equipment. Hyperscale said the AI customer has contracted for 20 megawatts (MW) of computing capacity under a 10-year master services agreement with two optional five-year extensions. The agreement may generate more than $1.2 billion over the maximum 20-year term. An additional 32 MW option could lift potential revenue above $3 billion, while the site is expected to support 340 MW. Hyperscale has also reduced its Bitcoin holdings sharply while funding the AI buildout. It’s holdings have dropped from 1006 Bitcoin at the end of July to around 215 BTC today.Top Magazine Stories of the WeekThe million dollar question is what prompted a Bitcoin OG to send 20 BTC to a custodian, retrieve it back, and then deliberately burn it?Crypto is showing signs of life again, but its biggest wins look different from what early believers imagined. After a decade of building, has it all been worth it?Crypto projects are spending hundreds of millions buying their own tokens. But are buybacks creating lasting value — or just making tokens look more valuable than they really are?Crypto recovery specialists reveal how lost wallets, passwords and seed phrases can sometimes be recovered — but that’s of no help if the money was never there in the first place.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

THAILANDThai businessmen sue Tether for freezing $42M in $61M pig butchering caseTwo Thai businessmen have sued stablecoin issuer Tether in a New York district court, claiming it illegally froze $42.4 million in Tether USDt (USDT) in October, as part of a broader case tied to a pig butchering scheme.The plaintiffs claimed that Tether illegally froze the $42 million without a warrant in October 2025, following an informal request from US Homeland Security Investigations.Authorities in the Eastern District of North Carolina only issued a seizure warrant for the funds later in February 2026. The warrant directed the burn and reissuance of the tokens to a government wallet. While the plaintiffs didn’t dispute their involvement in the investment scam, the lawsuit tests the freezing authority of stablecoin issuers.Thailand adopts crypto Travel Rule with self-custodial wallet checksThailand is tightening oversight of crypto transfers, including transactions involving self-custodial wallets, as it moves to align with global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards.Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new Travel Rule regulations requiring digital asset operators to collect information about parties involved in crypto transfer.The rules will take effect on Feb. 27, 2027.Thailand SEC proposes retail access to regulated overseas crypto derivativesThailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed allowing intermediaries to facilitate retail access to certain digital asset derivatives traded overseas. Under the proposal, eligible products would need to resemble crypto derivatives traded in Thailand, including their underlying assets, maturity, leverage and settlement methods. The products must also trade on an exchange that uses a central counterparty for clearing and is overseen by a regulator belonging to specified international regulatory or exchange groups. The consultation remains open until Sept. 30.ASIAPencil Finance completes $1M onchain lending cycle for 6.6K students in Southeast AsiaPencil Finance has completed a $1 million onchain student loan cycle, offering financing to 6,600 students in Southeast Asia who were underserved by traditional lenders.Of the 6,600 students across 118 schools and universities in Southeast Asia, about 1,050 received direct funding. Pencil said the loans were designed for students underserved by traditional lenders, with 50% female borrowers and 93% stemming from lower-income households.Pencil Finance claims this is the first-ever fully onchain lending cycle financing student loans transparently recorded on the blockchain network.Asia crypto custody deals from Ripple and CoincheckRipple has partnered with digital asset infrastructure company SettleMint to offer financial institutions solutions for custody, issuance and management of tokenized assets across their full lifecycle.Digital asset service provider Coincheck Group has also partnered with wallet infrastructure provider DFNS to build digital asset wallet technology and custody services in Japan.SINGAPORESingapore weighs recognizing some foreign-issued stablecoinsThe Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reconsidering its earlier restriction on stablecoins issued across multiple jurisdictions, proposing a route for some jointly issued tokens to qualify under its regulatory framework.Under one proposal, stablecoins jointly issued by a Singapore issuer and a foreign issuer could be regulated under the framework and labeled “MAS-regulated stablecoins,” provided that the associated risks are sufficiently mitigated.MAS is also considering recognizing a limited number of foreign-issued stablecoins regulated under comparable overseas frameworks, citing their potential use in cross-border wholesale transactions.AUSTRALIAAustralia warns unlicensed crypto firms of fines up to 10% of annual turnoverAustralian crypto companies relying on temporary regulatory relief have until Sept. 30 to apply for a financial services license or risk penalties, including fines reaching 10% of their annual turnover. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said businesses requiring an Australian Financial Services license must apply for one or seek changes to an existing license before the deadline. ASIC has recorded more than 45 digital asset-related license applications to date. UAEStandard Chartered launches spot Bitcoin and Ether trading in UAELondon-headquartered multinational bank Standard Chartered has launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).The move makes Standard Chartered the first global bank to offer institutional digital asset trading in the region and the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) with a similar offering, the bank said.JAPAN Japan’s Remixpoint dumps altcoinsRemixpoint, one of Japan’s largest corporate Bitcoin holders, sold all its altcoins, leaving about 1,506 BTC ($115 million) as its only cryptocurrency holding as it concentrates its crypto strategy around Bitcoin.Remixpoint sold its Ether, Solana, XRP and Dogecoin holdings for a combined 878.8 million yen ($5.5 million), generating a 117.8 million yen ($736,000) gain, according to a Wednesday company disclosure.The company recorded gains on its ETH, SOL and XRP sales but sold its DOGE holdings at a 3.26 million yen ($20,000) loss.Japanese regulator seeks stablecoin tax exemptionJapan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) submitted a request to exempt trust-type stablecoins from mandatory tax filings starting in fiscal year 2027.Metaplanet moves 4,800 BTC worth $377M to CoinbaseThe Japanese Bitcoin treasury company has transferred 10,270 BTC to Coinbase Prime this week, triggering speculation about the company selling its holdings.Japan’s FSA Warns Hong Kong-Based IZAKA-YA Over Unregistered ServicesJapan’s Financial Services Agency issued a formal warning to Hong Kong-based Izakaya Limited, alleging its cryptocurrency exchange services are unregistered.SBI Holdings Takes 20% Stake in Indonesia’s Ajaib GroupJapan’s SBI Holdings will spend $270 million to acquire a 20% stake in Indonesian online brokerage Ajaib Group. The aim is to expand its crypto business across the region and to promote SBI’s yen stablecoin JPYSC.HONG KONGHashkey joins DTCC working group as first Asian crypto service providerHashkey joined the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC) Digital Assets Advisory Services Industry Working Group as its first Asian digital asset service provider. Hashkey joins over 100 other global financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.DTCC custodies $114 trillion in liquid assets, including stocks and exchange-traded funds. Its working group was formed to connect traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure. DTCC plans to launch access to tokenized securities in October.Bitcoin Asia conference ‘subdued’The mood at Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong was subdued according to the South China Morning Post.Despite a pep talk by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao who declared Bitcoin “will for sure become more important than gold” the bear market hangover was all too evident.“Psychologically, I think this has been one of the hardest bear markets we’ve had, because this time it wasn’t just the price of bitcoin that took a hit,” said Brandon Green, CEO of conference organiser BTC, during his opening address.“This time, the Bitcoiners’ ego also took a hit.”OSL Group Reports 65.8% Revenue SurgeHong Kong-based digital asset firm OSL Group reported a 65.8% revenue increase in its first-half financial results.SFC warns Star Bridge Capital is unlicensedHong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has added Star Bridge Capital Group to its Alert List following forced liquidation anomalies and millions in trader losses. KOREAMirae Asset lays out crypto, stablecoin, tokenization plans for Digital XSouth Korean financial group Mirae Asset plans to build a 150 trillion won ($109 billion) digital asset business around Digital X, the crypto exchange formerly known as Korbit, according to The Korea Times.The report said Digital X will focus on crypto, stablecoins, real-world assets and security token offerings, with plans to tokenize physical assets including gold, silver and electricity.The expansion plans follow Mirae Asset Consulting’s acquisition of a 97.15% stake in Korbit in July for a cumulative 141.4 billion won. The exchange was subsequently rebranded as Digital X, marking the first time an affiliate of a South Korean financial group acquired control of a domestic crypto exchange.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

Bitcoin embraces post quantum futureDespite considerable skepticism among Bitcoiners about how close the quantum threat to Bitcoin actually is, two stories this week highlighted the progress being made toward upgrading the blockchain and protecting outputs from attack.StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy tested an experimental quantum-resistant transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet that protects it during the brief period when public keys are exposed in the mempool.Onchain data shows that StarkWSare spent a 10,000-satoshi output protected by Levy’s Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme. It combines hash-based one-time signatures with computational searches that bind an authorization to a specific transaction. While it works, it’s more of a last resort than a practical measure, as each transaction takes hours and costs between $150 to $200.There’s also been progress on long term upgrades to protect every transaction. On August 27, Blockstream researchers published a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal to upgrade Bitcoin with the SHRINCS signature scheme. The researchers slimmed down a huge, hash based post quantum signature by about 13.23 times — an impressive effort, but the SHRINCS signature is still at least nine times larger than Bitcoin’s existing signatures and comes with a bunch of trade offs.Blockstream Research’s Jonas Nick called it “the first concrete proposal for a post-quantum signature scheme designed specifically for Bitcoin.” He conceeded it was “not optimal along every axis” but added:”I do think it is a very good trade-off among the options we have now,” he said.Solana validators vote to cut inflation to 1.5% in 2.8 yearsSolana validators have approved a proposal to double the network’s annual disinflation rate. This will reduce issuance by 18.9 million SOL over the next six years.Overall participation reached 60.7% of eligible stake and the proposal received 67% support, with 25.16% voting against and 7.84% abstaining. Known as SGP-0002 or Double Disinflation, the measure will increase Solana’s annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30%.Under the new schedule, Solana is expected to reach its 1.5% terminal inflation rate in about 2.8 years, compared with roughly 5.7 years under the previous schedule.Onchain data presented by The Kobeissi Letter showed that Solana processed a record 4.2 billion transactions during July, up 13.5% from the month before. Transaction counts have risen by roughly 2 billion since December, representing a 91% increase.Trump cost investors $4.7B through crypto ‘schemes’Nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen claims that US President Donald Trump “left investors at least an estimated $4.7 billion underwater” since 2022 through his and his family’s digital asset ventures.A new report states that investors lost $3.2 billion via his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin, at least $1 billion on the World Liberty Financial governance token, $450 million on Trump Media’s digital asset treasury, and at least $9.3 million on the president’s nonfungible token (NFT) trading cards launched in 2022.Holders of the USD1 stablecoin however were sitting pretty on $0 losses.Trump’s crypto profits are one of the key factors holding up passage of the CLARITY Act, with Democrats digging in on stronger protections to prevent elected officials from issuing cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rally only just getting startedBlocksBridge Consulting reported this week that that Bitcoin’s 23% rally over the past week had outpaced most AI-linked infrastructure stocks.Three beaten-down Bitcoin mining companies — Canaan, American Bitcoin and Cango — gained between 41% and 67%. By comparison, CoreWeave rose about 21%, Nebius gained 17% and IREN advanced 15%.The Bitcoin ETFs have also minted more than $3.3 billion in August, for the strongest month since October 2025’s all time high. Outflows on Friday ended a nine day hot streak however.Wall Street analysts from Bernstein predict we are at the start of a new four year cycle. Bernstein’s forecast suggests Bitcoin will reclaim $125,000 under both its base case and bull case scenario, and will peak at $300,000 in 2029 under the base case, or top $500,000 that year under its bullish scenario.Revolut rolls out euro stablecoin in 3 European marketsRevolut has begun rolling out its first stablecoin, a euro-pegged token called EURR to around 2 million customers in Denmark, Poland and Portugal. The phased rollout is expected to expand to other European Economic Area (EEA) markets later this year.EURR is issued by Bridge Building S.A., the Luxembourg-based entity of Stripe-owned stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge. Revolut said EURR will be integrated into its retail app, with plans to support multiple blockchain networks and transfers to external wallets. It’s launching initially on the Ethereum network.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is up 1.1% to trade at $78,420, Ethereum (ETH) is up 0.6% to trade at $2,469 and XRP (XRP) is down 8.7% to $1.38. The total market cap is at $2.64 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are VeChain (VET) with an 18.5% gain, SPX6900 (SPX) on 17.3%, and Uniswap (UNI) on 15.2%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Aptos (APT) which was down 16.4%, Stable (STABLE) down 14.7% and Morpho (MORPHO) down 13.6%.Prediction of the WeekBitcoin bear market ‘over’ as price metric copies 2023 recovery: CryptoQuant CEOCryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju has flagged the first positive reading on CryptoQuant’s Bull/Bear Market Cycle Indicator since early October.“The Bitcoin bear cycle is over,” he wrote.The indicator measures onchain profitability metrics in comparison to a 365 day moving average, including the market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio, net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL) and the spent output profit ratio (SOPR). Values above zero for the Bull/Bear indicator point to bullish phases in the BTC price cycle as profitability improves. Current cycle lows came on Feb. 5 as BTC/USD fell to $60,000, with a reading of -1.244 corresponding to “extreme bear” conditions. As of Aug. 26, the Bull/Bear indicator displayed a positive reading of 0.042, placing it in its “bull” bracket.FUD of the Week77% of Americans see crypto in retirement plans as risky: SurveyMore than three-quarters of Americans view cryptocurrency in workplace retirement plans as risky, according to a new survey from The National Institute on Retirement Security.The survey found that 77% of Americans consider crypto in workplace retirement plans risky, including 46% who view it as very risky, while 53% oppose employers offering crypto as an investment option.The survey was conducted by Greenwald Research between Oct. 24 and Nov. 14, 2025, and included 1,203 Americans aged 25 and older, with results weighted by age, gender and income.Americans view of crypto in retirement plans. Source: National Institute of Retirement SecurityReal Trump Coins denies launching GOLD token, blames ‘bad actors’Real Trump Coins has denied launching, promoting or authorizing the Trump Digital GOLD token that briefly appeared across its online presence before collapsing, blaming the promotion on “third-party bad actors.”The denial came after the Real Trump Coins X account promoted the Solana-based token on Saturday and directed users to RealTrumpCoins.com, where GOLD was also advertised. The X posts were later deleted, while the account now links to a separate domain, TrumpCoins.com.“Trump Coins has not authorized and will not launch, promote, or authorize any digital token,” Real Trump Coins said in an X post on Saturday, adding that it was working with authorities to investigate the matter.Polygon discloses security flaws fixed in recent hard forksPolygon has disclosed several previously private security vulnerabilities that could have disrupted its proof-of-stake network, after deploying fixes through two recent hard forks.The vulnerabilities affected Polygon’s Bor and Heimdall clients and included denial-of-service risks, validator resource exhaustion and flaws affecting checkpoint and milestone processing, according to a Thursday disclosure from Polygon Labs’ Validators Support Team. Polygon said the flaws were fixed through the Austin and Kyoto hard forks, which were deployed privately and tested before being activated on mainnet and publicly disclosed.Top Magazine Stories of the WeekA new Bitcoin Improvement Proposal for the SHRINCS signature scheme has just been published to upgrade Bitcoin to quantum secure. Here’s everything you need to know.Hugging Face relies on open weight Chinese models to defend itself from rogue AI agents. But a lack of safety guardrails makes those models potentially dangerous too.If your personal AI agent goes rogue and causes harm or financial damage in the real world, can you be held liable?Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.