Autor Cointelegraph By Andrew Fenton

CLARITY vote fails, long live CLARITYAfter a year’s buildup, the US Senate failed to pass a cloture motion on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.The motion received just 49 votes in favor and 50 against, well short of the 60 votes required.However, Republican Senator Thom Tillis’s “no” vote was not all it seemed, and he confirmed he’d only switched sides at the last minute to enable him to call a new vote in future.So does that mean the CLARITY Act could be resurrected? The GENIUS bill suffered a similar failed vote on cloture and then went on to pass just 11 days later.While there is a small chance that CLARITY could still pass,the politics and the number of legislative days available suggests it’s unlikely.Congressman Shri Thanedar, a Democrat who supported CLARITY in the House, told Magazine the timeline was a “major barrier.”“There are only 20 legislative days left in this Congress, all of them after the midterms, making odds of a 2026 compromise, unfortunately, very low.”Seven Democratic senators who had voted against the bill — claimed they “remain committed” to passing it. At some point. “We were ready to strike a deal today and in discussions right up until the vote. Republican leadership shut it down at the very last minute,” said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. NEAR chief legal officer Abhishek Vaidyanathan noted the House had already cancelled two sitting weeks and that the Senate’s state work period began October 5.“Now that cloture failed, the next Congress is the likely next opportunity to address crypto market structure,” he said.SEC Chair proposes new rules in absence of CLARITYAfter the failed vote, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicted that US regulators will “continue to work hard to issue rules to fill the legislative gap.”The industry didn’t have long to wait with the US Securities and Exchange Commission announcing just two days later a five year long exemption allowing limited trading of tokenized US stocks on decentralized public blockchains.The Innovation Exemption allows tokenized stock trading using automated market makers and exempts them from having to register as securities exchanges. However the new rules do not exempt “synthetic” stock tokens that do not provide holders with all the same rights as traditional stocks. This is bad news for pretty much all of the stock tokens issued by xStocks and Robinhood to date.CFTC swoops in to propose new crypto rulesThe Commodity Futures Trading Commission also announced regulatory relief for “passive software” providers that connect users to regulated derivatives firms and exchanges.It issued a no-action position stating it would not recommend enforcement against qualifying providers or their personnel for failing to register as introducing brokers or associated persons when facilitating trading with CFTC-registered firms and exchanges.The position could make it easier for crypto wallets and other apps to offer access to regulated derivatives, including perpetual contracts and prediction markets.The CFTC has also submitted draft crypto rules to the White House called the “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets.” The action is listed at the “prerule” stage meaning it has not yet been formally proposed. Coinbase this week filed an application with the CFTC to offer 24/5 perpetual futures trading to individual US stocks. Kalshi filed a very similar proposal on the same day. House committee votes yes to Bitcoin ReserveThe American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 passed the US House Committee on Financial Services this week. It would formalize the current executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in law. A Digital Asset Stockpile containing other forfeited cryptocurrencies would also be held within the Department of the Treasury.The legislation requires all federal agencies to provide a full audit of digital assets they hold and orders them to provide quarterly “proof of reserve” reports.. It would also direct a study of budget-neutral acquisition strategies for buying additional Bitcoin for the reserve. Bitcoin Policy Institute executive director Connor Brown on Wednesday called it a “genuinely historic step for Bitcoin policy.”The US House Ways and Means Committee also passed the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act with bipartisan support, advancing legislation aimed at reshaping the federal tax treatment of digital assets.Revolut’s $3 million ransom demand highlights dangers of ID storageThe theft of sensitive customer data including passports and KYC selfies from Revolut took a turn for the bizarre when a second hacker demanded a $3 million ransom. Calling themselves “IAmNotAVillain” the actor publicly demanded 6,000 Monero from Revolut within 24 hours or it would sell the customer records to criminal groups. Earlier a group calling itself “Revolut Smilik” had demanded 10,000 Bitcoin, worth about $780 million, for the data. IAmNotAVillain suggested the demand came from a former associate who only had a small sample of the data. The theft highlighted the dangers of mandating KYC checks that result in thousands of companies storing ID documents all over the web, which act as honeypots for hackers.Frustratingly, it’s now possible to verify identity using zero knowledge proofs without sending any identity documents to third parties at all, but the technology is not yet in wide use.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is up 5.9% to trade at $81,185, Ethereum (ETH) is up 6.6% to trade at $2,639 and XRP (XRP) is up 5.4% to $1.40. The total market cap is at $2.78 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are NEAR Protocol (NEAR) with a 76.4% gain, Arbitrum (ARB) on 64.3%, and Ethena (ENA) on 61.6%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Stable (STABLE) which was down 11.6%, Pi (PI) down 11.3% and SPX6900 (SPX) down 1.8%.Prediction of the WeekStandard Chartered says Arbitrum could increase 70X by 2030Standard Chartered says layer-2 network Arbitrum’s price could reach as high as $10 by 2030. From current levels, that would represent a roughly 70-fold increase, far exceeding Standard Chartered’s projected returns for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) over the same period.Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said Arbitrum’s economics offer considerable upside because the network receives 10% of the net protocol revenue generated by companies building on it with Robinhood Chain being the first major example. Robinhood fees will push Arbitrum’s September revenue to $5 million, which is a five fold increase from before Robinhood Chain launched in July.Kendrick said the biggest risks to his ARB price projection include “a slower-than-expected pace of asset tokenization and more competition from alternate blockchains.”Top FUD Of The WeekState hackers drive 420% surge in onchain malware, Chainalysis findsState-linked hackers accounted for roughly two-thirds of new activity each quarter as the number of times attackers stored malware instructions or infrastructure information on public blockchains rose 420% over the past 12 months, according to a Chainalysis report. Chainalysis identified North Korea and Iran-linked operators among the state actors adopting the technique. The analytics firm also connected previously unattributed activity spanning Tron, Aptos and BNB Smart Chain (BSC) to UNC5342, a North Korea-linked group tracked by Google Threat Intelligence. Chainalysis said using public blockchains increases the durability of malware campaigns because the stored information remains accessible after domains, servers or code repositories are taken down. BIS paper finds major gap in Bitcoin onchain transfer estimatesResearchers at the Bank for International Settlements found that estimates of Bitcoin onchain transfer values can vary by as much as sixfold depending on how transactions are measured.The sixfold gap reflects differences between measurement methods, including how change outputs and other transfers back to the sender are treated.The measurement problem also extends to Bitcoin’s market capitalization. The researchers found that the conventional measure has at times been as much as four times higher than realized capitalization, which values each coin at the price when it last moved.Hong Kong jails ex-banker over $1.6B false credit, cryptocurrency bribesA former bank official in Hong Kong who falsely authenticated letters of credit for more than $1.6 billion was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to make restitution of more than $470,000 he received in cryptocurrency bribes.Lam Chun-yin, 32, who was a customer relationship manager at China Construction Bank (Asia), had previously pleaded guilty in District Court, The Standard reported on Saturday.Top Magazine Features of the WeekIs there any chance left to save the CLARITY Act?CLARITY isn’t dead after failing a key Senate vote, but with time running short and Democrats still demanding changes, its path forward is narrowing.Bitcoin treasury firms can outperform BTC… but is the risk worth taking?Bitcoin treasury companies promise to amplify returns over investing in Bitcoin alone, but does the potential upside outweigh the risks to the downside?Revolut ID thefts highlight KYC’s dangers: Here’s how to fix itZero-knowledge technology could let companies verify who you are without storing your identity documents. So why isn’t it already standard practice?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.

State hackers drive 420% surge in onchain malware, Chainalysis findsNorth Korean and Iran linked hackers were responsible for the majority of the 420% increase this year in malware on public blockchains according to a Chainalysis report. State-linked hackers accounted for roughly two-thirds of new activity whereby attackers stored malware instructions or infrastructure information on public blockchains.Chainalysis also identified UNC5342, a North Korea linked group, to previously unattributed activity spanning Tron, Aptos and BNB Smart Chain.Chainalysis said using public blockchains increases the durability of malware campaigns because the stored information remains accessible after domains, servers or code repositories are taken down. In 2025, North Korean hackers used a similar technique called EtherHiding to place crypto-stealing code in smart contracts.North Korea using foreign talent to help infiltrate US companies: ReportNorth Korea (DPRK) is now using remote workers from third countries, including Iran and Lebanon, to pass job interviews, after which the positions are taken over by North Korean operatives. The aim is infiltrate US companies and obtain money to fund its weapons programs, NBC reported.KOREAPolymarket users referred to prosecutors in South Korea: ReportSouth Korean police have referred 18 Polymarket users to prosecutors in an illegal gambling investigation that had identified 26 users in total by analyzing publicly available blockchain data.The users had collectively wagered about 17.6 billion won (worth $12.7 million) on Polymarket, which does not collect users real names or verify identities.  Authorities said that Polymarket transactions constitute illegal gambling under South Korea’s Criminal Act because users stake assets on outcomes that cannot be predicted with certainty. HONG KONGMetaplanet cuts Series 10 stock pool by 41%, plans Hong Kong subsidiaryAfter last week’s controversy over a plan to hand over as much as 20% of its fully diluted shares to executives, Metaplanet has now slashed the Series 10 stock pool.Metaplanet will reduce the number of potential shares underlying the rights from 319.464 million to 188.19 million, and reset the conversion ratio to the level it was before its September 2025 international share offering.The change will extinguish more than $220 million in warrant value and increase the company’s Bitcoin per fully diluted share by about 8.8%, according to Metaplanet.CLARITY act failure is an opportunity for Hong Kong to seize ‘critical strategic window’The South China Morning Post says crypto industry insiders are urging Hong Kong policymakers to seize the opportunity opened up by the failure of the CLARITY vote in the US. The delay has given Hong Kong a “critical strategic window” said Allen Ding, director of Bitfire Research. Shawn Yan, founder of Cregis Technology said the city should focus on “building infrastructure that can operate across regulatory boundaries, rather than waiting for any single jurisdiction to define the market for everyone.”CoinEx to cease operation after 9 yearsThe Hong Kong founded exchange said falling trading volumes and liquidity during the bear market, along with rising regulatory and compliance costs, was responsible for the decision to shutter the business. Withdrawals remain open until Dec. 22.INDIAIndia launches tokenized bond pilot with $107M issuedIndia’s securities regulator and central bank have launched a tokenized corporate bond pilot, with three companies issuing a combined 10.25 billion rupees (about $107 million) through the new market infrastructure. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said Demat 2.0 allows corporate bonds to be issued and held as digital tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the country’s statutory depositories. The system connects to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) through its Unified Market Interface. Parliamentary committee wraps year long crypto reviewIndia’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has completed its hearings on cryptocurrency policy. The government will respond next week before the committee prepares and submits its report.India’s Enforcement Directorate to beef up crypto investigationsIndia’s Enforcement Directorate aims to finalize economic crime investigations within 18 months and is beefing up its ability to track crimes involving cryptocurrencies.VIETNAMBitcoin Suisse becomes Bitcoin Vietnam?Bitcoin Suisse plans to shift up to half of its Swiss jobs to Bratislava and Vietnam.Founded in Zug in 2013, the company provides crypto trading, custody, staking and lending services. It will establish a new center in Vietnam to look after many of the back office and administrative roles.Vietnam develops new crypto-asset monitoring mechanisms Vietnamese regulators are building a supervisory mechanism covering crypto asset service providers and investor transactions. It draws upon recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).Binance signs MOU to help develop Vietnam finance centerBinance, the world’s largest exchange, has signed an agreement to help develop the Vietnam International Finance Center in Ho Chi Minh City.SINGAPORESingapore Exchange gets nod for US perpsSingapore Exchange has become the first major Asian TradFi exchange to get approval from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to provide Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual futures to US institutions. Singapore’s High Court offers guidance for valuing crypto assetsA recent decision has provided a precedent for valuing crypto assets in claims that departs from the usual breach-date damage assessment principles according to law firm Reed Smith. “The court is unlikely to allow claimants to delay mitigation for years and then seek damages at a higher present-day market price,” it noted.Six Malaysians jailed for crypto poker robberySix Malaysian men were sentenced in Singapore to hefty sentences up to 12 years and 11 months —plus 24 strokes of the cane — over a 2024 armed robbery involving crypto, cash, and luxury items.THAILANDThailand SEC proposes 5 million baht daily stablecoin transfer capThailand’s SEC has proposed new stablecoin regulations that would prohibit users from transferring more than 5 million baht per day, worth around $151,000. MALAYSIAMalaysia is one of the more crypto friendly Islamic nationsAccording to Fitch Ratings Malaysia is one of the most crypto curious Muslim majority nations, with the local Securities Commission declaring Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Stellar sharia-compliant.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.

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.