Author: John Smith

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe challenged Anthropic’s Claude models on Aug. 1 by publishing a Bitcoin address holding 100 BTC and inviting the AI system to move the funds.  Summary 100 BTC remained in the published address after Mike Belshe challenged Claude to move it. Three Claude models accessed real systems after evaluation environments mistakenly retained internet connectivity during tests. BitGo says its Bitcoin multisignature wallets require two of three keys to authorize transactions onchain. BitGo’s official website identifies Belshe as its co-founder and chief executive. Belshe framed the wager as a response to Anthropic’s July 30 disclosure that Claude models…

Minnesota’s prediction market ban remained blocked on Aug. 2, one day after the law was scheduled to take effect.  Summary July 27 injunction keeps Kalshi and Polymarket operating while Minnesota’s preemption case continues in court. Walz barred state employees from using confidential information to trade prediction markets for private benefit. Fairshake reported $126.97 million cash on hand through June, amplifying crypto’s broader election influence nationwide. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez granted a preliminary injunction on July 27 to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Kalshi and Polymarket US. The order prevents Minnesota from enforcing its new statute against CFTC-registered designated contract…

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on Aug. 2 that the Coldcard security failure strengthens the case for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, especially for investors who want long-term price exposure without managing private keys.  Summary Galaxy traced 1,367.05 BTC across 4,585 addresses, valuing observed Coldcard losses near $88.6 million total. Balchunas argued institutional custody makes Bitcoin ETFs preferable for investors seeking only long-term price exposure. ETF investors avoid seed management but surrender direct ownership, payments, and round-the-clock Bitcoin network access. His comments followed Galaxy Research’s estimate that three suspected attack waves drained 1,367.05 BTC, worth about $88.6 million,…

Dogecoin community contributor Mishaboar urged Coldcard users on Aug. 1 to move their Bitcoin to wallets controlled by newly generated seed phrases.  Summary 1,367.05 BTC worth $88.6 million was drained from 4,585 addresses across three suspected attack waves. Coinkite says firmware updates protect new seeds but cannot repair seed phrases from vulnerable versions. Mishaboar advised users never to reuse affected seeds or enter recovery phrases into computers online. The warning followed Galaxy Research’s estimate that three suspected attack waves drained 1,367.05 BTC, worth about $88.6 million, from 4,585 addresses. Mishaboar wrote, “If you have ever used a COLDCARD device of…

Trump Media & Technology Group’s Truth API became available to institutional customers on Aug. 1, giving trading firms rapid, machine-readable access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s account. Summary August 1 launch gives institutions millisecond access to influential Truth Social posts with continuous coverage. Schiff and Warren asked the SEC to investigate whether the paid feed violates securities laws. Trump’s trust holds 41% of Trump Media, linking the product’s revenue directly to his wealth. The launch followed a July 16 Form 8-K in which Trump Media said it had already signed customers and was…

Strategy Inc. kept the annual dividend rate on its STRC preferred stock at 12% for August 2026, even though the Nasdaq-listed security ended July more than 10% below its $100 stated amount. Summary 12% annualized dividend remains unchanged for August despite STRC closing July at $89.46 per share. $3.75 billion reserve covers roughly 2.1 years of preferred dividends and debt interest payments currently. Strategy repurchased 288,930 STRC shares below par while retaining $975 million in remaining authorization capacity. The company’s official STRC information page confirms that the variable annualized rate for record dates beginning in August remains 12%. Executive Chairman…

Ripple Director of Engineering Vijay Khanna urged XRP Ledger node operators on Aug. 2 to install xrpld version 3.2.1 after developers observed a validator manifest flood on July 31.  Summary July 31 manifest flooding prompted xrpld 3.2.1 while XRP Ledger continued closing ledgers normally throughout. Four safeguards now cap manifest size, message batches, outbound sharing and unknown-key cache growth network-wide. Operators should upgrade, verify xrpld is running, then restart again to clear persisted manifests safely. The hotfix limits how nodes process, store and share data received from unknown validator identities.  The XRP Ledger continued closing ledgers normally during the event,…

Trump Media-linked wallets transferred 2,628 Bitcoin, valued at about $165 million, to Crypto.com on Aug. 2, according to on-chain analysts Lookonchain. Summary 2,628 BTC moved to Crypto.com, but no company filing has confirmed an outright sale yet. Trump Media reported 9,542.16 BTC in March, including 4,260.73 BTC pledged as secured convertible-note collateral. Lookonchain estimates realized and unrealized Bitcoin losses at $555 million after seven months of transfers. The movement reportedly reduced the wallets’ remaining balance to about 4,261 BTC.Lookonchain described the movement as another sale and estimated that Trump Media had disposed of 7,281 BTC over seven months. However, neither…

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 can no longer reach its 55% voluntary miner threshold during the current difficulty period, according to blockchain signaling data and an Aug. 1 analysis from Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.  Summary 28 signaling blocks appeared among 1,108, leaving BIP-110 at 2.53% support as of Aug. 2. Saylor said all 24 initial signals came from DATUM miners sharing rewards through OCEAN’s system. Mandatory signaling starts at block 961,632, when enforcing nodes reject every non-signaling block as invalid. Strategy’s official website identifies Saylor as the company’s executive chairman. At block 960,561, Saylor counted 24 signaling blocks among 946,…

A crypto industry-aligned political action committee has pushed its spending above $2 million in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, according to final-week Federal Election Commission disclosures.  Summary Protect Progress spending surpassed $2 million backing Thanedar and opposing McKinney before Tuesday’s primary vote. $884,240 in new advertisements supported Thanedar, while more than $150,000 targeted McKinney with opposition messaging. August 4 voters will decide the Democratic nominee after over one million Michiganders voted early. Protect Progress is supporting Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar and opposing challenger Donavan McKinney before the Aug. 4 primary. Protect Progress is affiliated with the Fairshake network, which has received…