Author: John Smith

Eight years after the ICO boom, the regulator is offering a path that the market already abandoned. The capital it is trying to regulate now flows through channels the proposal does not touch. Summary The SEC proposed a framework allowing crypto projects to raise up to $75 million annually through public token sales without full securities registration, using an expanded version of existing Regulation A+ exemptions. The proposal arrives roughly eight years after the 2017 to 2018 ICO wave that prompted it, during which projects raised over $20 billion through unregistered token sales before the SEC began systematic enforcement. In…

Crypto and blockchain companies disclosed $184.1 million across eight funding rounds between Aug. 22 and Aug. 28, led by RQD* Clearing’s $74 million growth investment. Summary Eight crypto and blockchain projects disclosed a combined $184.1 million in new financing. RQD* Clearing secured a $74 million minority growth investment led by Bain Capital. Fasset raised $68 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. Hivemind Digital Group completed a $17 million strategic round led by M&G Investments. Infrastructure, stablecoin banking, and onchain trading attracted most of the disclosed capital. Stablecoin neobank Fasset followed with a $68 million Series C…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a rule amendment that would exempt European Union debt from futures trading and open a 60-day public comment period. Summary The SEC wants to add EU debt obligations to the exemption under Rule 3a12-8. The exemption would apply only to the marketing and trading of qualifying futures contracts. EU debt futures would fall under the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction if the amendment takes effect. Federal securities laws would continue to govern offerings of the underlying EU debt. SEC proposal would cover EU debt futures The SEC, in an Aug. 28 proposal, said it…

HyENA has announced plans to close every market between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2 after processing more than $4 billion in trades for over 12,000 users. Summary HyENA will remove one market each hour from Aug. 31 through Sept. 2. Open positions will settle automatically, while margin will return to users’ spot balances. HLPe depositors can redeem their holdings and earned rewards through Upshift at a 1:1 rate. HyENA generated nearly 2.5 million USDe in rewards but will not issue a token. HyENA will remove markets over three days HyENA said in an Aug. 28 shutdown announcement that it would…

A Bitcoin wallet linked to convicted Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins has transferred 500 BTC worth about $39.56 million to Coinbase Prime after the coins were reportedly inaccessible because their private keys had been lost. Summary 500 BTC, worth approximately $39.56 million, was sent to Coinbase Prime. The transfer came from a group of wallets linked to Clifton Collins’ 6,000 BTC stash. Irish authorities had recovered 1,500 BTC from the wallet group by July. A Coinbase Prime deposit does not confirm that the transferred Bitcoin has been sold. Collins-linked Bitcoin has moved to Coinbase Prime Lookonchain said in an Aug.…

North Korea-linked Lazarus Group has transferred 244.148 Bitcoin worth about $19.42 million, bringing fresh attention to wallets associated with one of the crypto industry’s most active hacking operations. Summary Lazarus Group transferred 244.148 BTC worth about $19.42 million, according to Lookonchain. The transaction’s destination and connection to any earlier theft remain undisclosed. Another Lazarus-linked wallet moved 262.2 BTC to a new address earlier in August. U.S. sanctions generally prohibit Americans from dealing with property linked to the Lazarus Group. Lazarus Group moves 244 BTC between wallets Lookonchain reported the transfer in an Aug. 28 X post, saying wallets attributed to…

Bullish has provided USD.AI with a $100 million stablecoin debt facility to fund loans secured by graphics processing units used in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Summary Bullish will supply $100 million in stablecoin liquidity for GPU-backed loans. USD.AI offers non-recourse financing secured solely by computing hardware. Bullish plans to list sUSDai and support trading through a market-making program. Bullish shares have gained about 45% over the past month. Bullish said in a Friday announcement that the facility will give USD.AI capital to finance operators purchasing high-performance computing equipment, extending the exchange operator’s exposure to tokenized assets and AI infrastructure. Developed by…

Tokenized gold has moved deeper into crypto lending after Aave’s XAUT-backed debt reached a $25 million ceiling and Arch Lending added loans against the two largest gold tokens. Summary Aave’s $25 million XAUT debt ceiling was fully used before additional capacity filled within 24 hours. Arch’s Himanshu Sahay said investors increasingly want to use tokenized gold instead of passively holding it. Arch now accepts PAXG and XAUT as collateral for loans at up to 75% LTV. Borrowers retain their gold exposure but face interest, liquidation, custody, and issuer risks. Arch co-founder and chief technology officer Himanshu Sahay told crypto.news that…

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has put another interest-rate increase on the table after saying inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% target, sending Bitcoin below $80,000 as traders raised their rate-hike bets. Summary Warsh said 12-month PCE inflation stands at 3.7%, while the six-month rate has reached 4.1%. Bitcoin fell nearly 2% to about $79,200 after trading above $80,000 earlier in the day. Polymarket traders raised the probability of a 2026 rate hike to 68% after the speech. Nansen analysts said a hawkish message could pressure crowded Bitcoin longs after a $6.4 billion options expiry. Warsh says inflation must…

Solana’s proposal to double its annual disinflation rate has cleared a governance vote with 67% support, placing the network on course to reduce projected SOL issuance by 18.9 million tokens over six years. Summary 67% of participating SOL backed the faster disinflation schedule, narrowly exceeding the two-thirds requirement. 60.7% of eligible stake participated, comfortably meeting the one-third quorum. SOL inflation would decline twice as fast but retain its existing 1.5% minimum rate. A separate resource-fee proposal failed after receiving 53.9% support. Solana inflation proposal narrowly clears required vote Solana’s official governance dashboard showed that SGP-0002, called Double Disinflation, finished voting…