News linked to both this project and an event.
Block CEO Jack Dorsey has expressed support for review, independent evaluation, and planning of frontier AI, but opposes governments and leading AI companies negotiating industry-wide development restrictions.He advocates for an open-release approach that allows outside parties to reproduce results, identify problems, and develop alternatives, and supports providing models, computing power, and public infrastructure to independent researchers and safety researchers.Block is developing open-source AI tools and provides Bitcoin-related services across products including Square and Cash App. The company has also launched the open-source AI agent goose, and is developing Bitcoin mining hardware Proto and hardware wallet Bitkey. (Bitcoin.com News)
Bitcoin News posted on X platform stating that Coin Center says the latest revised BRCA text removes the provision that provided explicit criminal liability protection for developers who do not control user funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. The revised text would still protect developers who do not control user funds from being deemed money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN regulations, thereby significantly raising the difficulty of prosecuting developers solely for failing to obtain a money transmitter license or register with the federal government. However, the text cannot prevent prosecutors from arguing that developers knowingly transmitted funds derived from criminal activity, a theory that has become the core basis in the criminal cases against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet developers. Coin Center believes that this compromise represents substantive progress on the regulatory front, but developers still face broader money transmission criminal prosecution theories from the U.S. Department of Justice; if the CLARITY Act passes with the revised BRCA, the related disputes will mainly shift to the courts.
Odaily News: The sandwich attack bot operated by JaredfromSubway.eth has extracted a cumulative total of 117,007 ETH since March 2023, worth approximately $295 million at current prices. In June 2026, an anonymous attacker deployed 66 counterfeit token contracts, exploiting the bot's automated trading logic to steal at least $7.5 million in ETH and stablecoins, and funneled the funds into Tornado Cash. The stolen assets have not yet been recovered.Sandwich attacks are a form of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV): the bot monitors large transactions in Ethereum's public mempool, buys ahead of the target transaction, and sells after the transaction pushes the price up, capturing profits from the spread. The bot's primary contract had received a cumulative total of 117,007 ETH as of August 28.MEV-Boost block construction is centralized among a small group of participants, with relay.ultrasound.money, Titan Relay, and bloXroute regulated relays collectively forwarding approximately 85% to 88% of related blocks within a 24-hour window; Titan's builder independently assembled 50.3% of the blocks. Monthly sandwich attack extraction amounts have declined from approximately $10 million in late 2024 to roughly $2.5 million in October 2025. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: After Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced shareholder return plans aimed at allocating more than 50% of free cash flow (FCF) to shareholder returns, SanDisk and Micron have proposed returning 100% of "excess cash" to shareholders, raising questions about the relatively low level of shareholder returns among South Korean semiconductor companies. However, industry and financial institutions in South Korea point out that the cash metrics underlying the two types of policies are not defined the same way, making it unfair to directly compare the "50%" and "100%" ratios. Industry insiders believe that the FCF-based return policies of Korean companies actually offer greater certainty in terms of amount forecasting, implementation standards, and transparency.It is understood that FCF typically refers to the cash remaining after deducting capital expenditures (CAPEX) and other investment outlays from cash generated by operating activities, and can be objectively calculated using data from cash flow statements. Samsung Electronics previously announced that 50% of its cumulative FCF from 2024 to 2026 would be allocated to shareholder returns; SK Hynix also plans to allocate more than 50% of cumulative FCF to shareholder returns over the 2025–2027 period. (Yonhap)
Odaily News - Nomura Holdings' digital asset company Laser Digital Japan announced this week that it has completed registration as a crypto asset trading service provider under Japan's Payment Services Act, with registration number 00032, and has joined the Japan Virtual and Crypto asset Trading Association, bringing an end to Japan's nearly 4-year period without new industry participants.The license covers six crypto assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Shiba Inu, all of which are listed on the industry association's "green list." Laser Digital Japan will initially provide liquidity to licensed crypto asset companies in Japan, while the launch date for trading services targeting professional investors has not yet been announced.Japanese regulators require the segregation of customer assets from company assets, with at least 95% of customer crypto assets stored in offline cold wallets, subject to verification through annual audits. The license does not cover crypto asset derivatives, nor does it permit Laser Digital Japan to launch exchange-traded funds; major adjustments to Japan's crypto asset regulatory framework are expected to be implemented in fiscal year 2027. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News, Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm stated that if the logic behind the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) case against him holds, tech companies Google and OpenAI should also be held liable for North Korean hackers abusing their products. Those involved reportedly used ChatGPT to write code and Google Gemini for forgery and image manipulation. Storm was convicted in August 2025 of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He pointed out that the Tornado Cash case could set a legal precedent where software developers are penalized for criminal acts committed by users, emphasizing that criminals should be held accountable rather than the developers of tools. The CLARITY Act for digital asset markets is intended to provide protections for software developers by distinguishing developer liability from the potential misuse of protocols for illegal activities. However, although a final motion for consideration of the bill has been scheduled for a vote, its current chances of passage remain low. (Bitcoin News)
Odaily News: On August 5, the minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs stated that the July 22 version of the CLARITY Act fails to meet five minimum standards. The bill, numbered H.R. 3633, aims to divide digital asset regulatory authority between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The analysis suggests that the bill's two-tier system could remove certain blockchain assets from SEC oversight, allowing issuing companies to self-certify exemptions from securities regulation. Healthy Markets and five labor organizations have raised concerns over pension protections and securities law loopholes, while minority staff also noted that investors' private right of action and state and tribal enforcement powers could be weakened. Minority staff stated that DeFi-related companies could be exempt from anti-illegal financing obligations even if they earn millions of dollars from platform transactions; some crypto mixers may circumvent U.S. sanctions by exploiting the "Tornado Cash loophole." The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) warned that stablecoin yields could drain deposits from community banks, and the Systemic Risk Council has flagged related banking activities as potential bailout risks. Minority staff noted that Donald Trump alone earned over $1.4 billion from crypto businesses in 2025, with related enforcement solely under the purview of his Attorney General, and that obligations would terminate upon his departure from office. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, citing $3.8 billion in investor losses, have separately called on the SEC to investigate Trump memecoin. The Senate is scheduled to hold a cloture vote on September 15 on the motion to proceed, with the bill needing 60 votes to advance. (Bitcoin.com News)
: Asset management giant BlackRock has announced the launch of two tokenized money market products: the BlackRock Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund (BSTBL) and the BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle (BRSRV). BSTBL will offer Ethereum-based tokenized shares of an existing money market fund. These on-chain shares can be transferred between approved wallets, subject to regulatory compliance. BNY Mellon will serve as the transfer agent and tokenization service provider for BSTBL. BRSRV, meanwhile, is a new tokenized money market fund designed for digital-native institutional investors, supporting daily dividend reinvestment and multi-blockchain access, and can be used for a variety of digital asset applications, including stablecoin reserve management. Securitize will serve as the transfer agent and tokenization service provider for this fund.
Cash Cat has announced the launch of its meme coin launchpad, letscash.fun. The project team stated that the platform originated from the community's demand for a fair launch mechanism following the listing of Robinhood Crypto, and was driven by community development.Cash Cat indicated that the platform operates in two modes: In Creator Mode, 70% of tokens go to the creator and 30% to the protocol; in Self-Destruct Mode, similarly, 70% is used to buy and burn tokens. The 30% obtained by the protocol will be used to burn cash-cat:native, increase treasury funds, and support development.The platform is powered by Uniswap v4, employing a permissionless, decentralized mechanism that is immutable after deployment. It is currently undergoing its final security review by Hyacinth Audits and SB Security.
According to CoinDesk, the UK government plans to complete the first tokenized sovereign bond issuance tests through HSBC and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in early 2027, but industry experts point out that on-chain cash settlement issues remain the core obstacle hindering the implementation of the plan. Varun Paul, Global Head of Central Banks and Market Infrastructure at Fireblocks, stated that the project has secured sufficient institutional support, and a change in government (UK Prime Minister changing from Keir Starmer to Andy Burnham) is unlikely to reverse it, and tokenized government bonds are expected to boost market demand given the UK's current debt scale of nearly 3 trillion pounds (approximately 4 trillion USD). Jannah Patchay, Founder of Markets Evolution, pointed out that tokenized bond technology has been validated for nearly seven years since Santander Bank issued the first tokenized sterling corporate bond in 2019, but the absence of on-chain counterparty risk-free settlement assets has remained unresolved. She called on regulators to promote the use of compliant sterling stablecoins to provide an on-chain settlement mechanism. Currently, the global stablecoin market size reaches $300 billion, but TGBP, the largest pound stablecoin by market capitalization, is only worth about $34.2 million, accounting for a negligible proportion.
: On-chain digital asset management neobank ether.fi has selected Nexus Mutual to provide ETH slashing coverage, covering slashing penalties for its validators up to 15,000 ETH. ether.fi stated that it operates a large-scale validator set on Ethereum, and slashing is a tail risk. This coverage is used to cover validator losses, with a scale exceeding the total historical ETH slashing losses. ether.fi currently manages over $6 billion in assets across products such as Cash, Stake, and Liquid. Since 2019, Nexus Mutual has provided over $7 billion in coverage for smart contract attacks, slashing, and other digital asset risks. (Decrypt)
the Bank of Thailand is strengthening stablecoin regulation to combat money laundering, illegal financing, and "grey capital" in the country. The central bank is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to review high-value stablecoin transactions, focusing on USDt (USDT), cash transactions, and foreign exchange dealings to identify and prevent illicit fund flows. Thailand will also expand the compliance responsibilities of commercial banks in areas such as cash networks, foreign exchange services, gold trading, and suspicious stablecoin transactions. In 2025, Thailand suffered losses of 115 billion Thai baht (approximately $3.4 billion) due to scams, recording about 173 million fraudulent calls and text messages. Cash deposits exceeding 5 million Thai baht will also require full disclosure. Bitkub, Thailand's largest exchange, processes a daily trading volume of approximately $26 million, nearly 40% of which is foreign exchange trading, with the USDT/THB trading pair being the most popular. In 2025, Thailand's banking sector froze 3 million bank accounts as part of efforts to crack down on nominee accounts, grey capital, and suspicious activities. (Cointelegraph).
According to The Block, Block agreed to pay $45 million to settle with regulators in nearly 50 U.S. states. Regulators alleged that its Cash App exaggerated platform security safeguards, describing it as having fund protection capabilities comparable to traditional banks, but failed to effectively prevent fraud and did not provide adequate customer support and fraud reporting channels.
Prediction market platform Kalshi has submitted a self-certification application to launch derivatives linked to Ethereum, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Stellar, Chainlink, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Sui, Shiba Inu, Polkadot, and Hedera. This follows the CFTC's approval of Bitcoin perpetual futures last Friday. The CFTC stated that perpetual futures products that US companies intend to list, other than Bitcoin, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and noted that the design of such derivatives may not be suitable for all asset classes. Therefore, this batch of products submitted by Kalshi has not yet been approved.
market analysts have pointed out that if Elon Musk's proposed merger between SpaceX and Tesla proceeds, SpaceX may need to issue new shares equivalent to 94% of its current outstanding shares to acquire Tesla, increasing the total share count to approximately 8 billion. However, the financial logic of the transaction faces challenges. Tesla's GAAP net profit over the past 12 months has dropped from $15 billion in 2023 to $3.9 billion. After excluding regulatory credit revenue and Bitcoin gains, its core operating profit stands at only about $2.3 billion.Analysts believe that this transaction may essentially be an attempt to use a high-valuation asset to acquire another similarly overvalued company, leaving significant uncertainty regarding its long-term profitability and cash flow performance. The combined company's valuation could reach $3.4 trillion, with SpaceX estimated at $1.75 trillion and Tesla's current market cap around $1.65 trillion. Musk may be leveraging the high valuation from SpaceX's impending IPO to support Tesla, which is under earnings pressure. (Fortune)
the deliberation of the "Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act" (i.e., the CLARITY Act) has commenced in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. As of now:1. An amendment proposed by Senator Mike Rounds to create an AI regulatory sandbox was passed with 15 votes in favor and 9 against, indicating some bipartisan support, despite Senator Elizabeth Warren urging Democratic members to vote against it.2. An amendment proposed by Elizabeth Warren, aimed at "preventing high-risk assets from entering retirement accounts," was rejected with 11 votes in favor and 13 against.3. An amendment previously proposed by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, which would have allowed certain retirement accounts to invest in pooled investment vehicles, was withdrawn before the vote.It is reported that one of the most contentious amendments comes from Elizabeth Warren, concerning the strengthening of sanctions authority over cryptocurrency mixers. In her remarks, she referenced the U.S.-sanctioned mixing protocol Tornado Cash, stating it has been used to launder over $7 billion for criminal organizations and North Korean hacker groups, including over $450 million in related funds. Warren argued that the current bill does not grant the U.S. Treasury Department sufficient legal authority to isolate or restrict mixer services, potentially creating loopholes in anti-money laundering oversight. In response, Cynthia Lummis countered that the illegal financial activities are already covered in Parts Two and Three of the bill.
Odaily News: Crypto In America journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on X platform, stating that Tornado Cash became the focus of the day's hearing, with lawmakers debating whether the bill provides law enforcement with sufficient tools to combat money laundering.Senator Warren told Kennedy: "This is the Tornado problem... Do you remember Tornado, that mixer? What is Tornado used for? If you're a terrorist, you put your money in!" Republican lawmakers argued that the Clarity Act provides tools to address this issue, while Warren stated the bill is insufficient. Other Democrats joined her in voting to support the inclusion of the amendment. The amendment did not pass.
According to Cointelegraph, Stable Sea, an enterprise treasury management platform, has integrated WisdomTree’s tokenized U.S. Treasury money market fund WTGXX onto its platform, enabling corporate clients to allocate idle funds into the fund to generate returns. As of April 28, WTGXX’s total assets under management stood at $857.6 million, with a daily yield of 3.43%. WTGXX primarily invests in short-term U.S. Treasury securities; its shares are recorded on-chain, supporting faster settlement and automated trading. Stable Sea’s core functionality automatically sweeps corporate cash balances into yield-bearing instruments—and this integration extends that capability to tokenized funds. Clients remain subject to standard compliance review processes. Tokenized money market funds are now accelerating institutional adoption. WisdomTree has received SEC approval for 24/7 trading of WTGXX; Franklin Templeton is collaborating with Binance to promote tokenized fund shares as over-the-counter (OTC) collateral; and Standard Chartered has launched a framework enabling BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund to serve as collateral for trading on OKX.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT updated that funds related to the KelpDAO attack have begun moving: approximately $1.5 million has been cross-chained from Ethereum Mainnet to the Bitcoin network via Thorchain, and roughly $78,000 has been transferred via Umbra. The attacking address initially sourced its funds from Tornado Cash, and fund laundering and cross-chain transfers are ongoing.