News linked to both this project and an event.
According to The Block, Securitize President Brett Redfearn stated that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission withdrew the crypto innovation exemption rules last Friday due to concerns over the voting progress of the Clarity Act. Redfearn expects the rules to be introduced following the Senate vote on September 15, likely in early October.
According to The Block, Curve founder Michael Egorov stated that regulatory pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on decentralized finance (DeFi) may prompt protocols to remove privileged access, upgrade risks, and the ability to intervene with user funds, thereby improving DeFi security and enhancing decentralization.
According to The Block, Kraken has officially launched US stock trading services for eligible users in all member states of the European Economic Area (EEA). It is reported that the service was previously quietly launched in Germany, the Netherlands, and France, and is now officially fully open to the entire European Economic Area. Kraken stated that it is currently the only crypto-native platform capable of providing European Economic Area users with trading of both spot US stocks and their tokenized versions within the same regulated account.
Odaily News Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, in an interview with The Block, responded to ongoing criticism from outsiders even after KPMG U.S. completed its first full financial audit. He stated that some critics are unwilling to admit their past misjudgments about Tether, adding, "Honestly, I don't care."Ardoino noted that Tether has repeatedly demonstrated its resilience. He mentioned that in 2022, Tether processed $7 billion in redemptions within 48 hours—equivalent to roughly 10% of its reserves at the time—without pausing redemptions. He argued that many traditional financial institutions would struggle to handle withdrawals of a similar scale in such a short timeframe.He also said criticism itself is not a bad thing, as it makes Tether better and stronger. Even if some critics view the company as a "villain," he does not mind as long as Tether can continue serving the 650 million users who rely on USDT, particularly those in emerging markets.According to sources familiar with the matter, Tether, as a private company, does not publicly share audited financial statements. The company plans to conduct one full audit per year going forward while continuing to publish quarterly attestation reports. Overall, the KPMG audit marks a significant step forward for Tether in enhancing transparency, but controversies surrounding its reserves, level of disclosure, and systemic impact have not fully subsided. (The Block)
According to The Block, the Blockchain Association filed an amicus curiae brief on August 13 supporting Custodia Bank's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting a review of the legality of the Federal Reserve Bank's refusal of its master account application. The Blockchain Association pointed out that this case concerns whether legitimate digital asset enterprises can compete in a fair environment, and warned that the lower court ruling provides a precedent for federal regulators "to debank unpopular industries in the future without the intervention of state regulators." Custodia Bank was founded by Wall Street veteran Caitlin Long, applied for a Fed master account in October 2020, was rejected by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in January 2023 on the grounds that the crypto business model posed risks, subsequently lost twice in the district court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and was denied rehearing by the full court in a 7 to 3 vote in March 2026. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City must respond to the Supreme Court application by September 11.
Odaily News Tether-backed bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI) has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2026, reporting a net loss of $413.5 million, primarily driven by a decline in the value of its bitcoin holdings.According to the financial report, approximately $401.5 million of Twenty One Capital's second-quarter loss was attributable to a decrease in the book value of its bitcoin assets. As the company uses bitcoin as its core asset allocation, fluctuations in BTC prices directly impact its financial performance.New CEO Raphael Zagury stated that Twenty One Capital can no longer exist solely as a "Bitcoin treasury" company, but needs to transform into a broader financial services platform. Zagury outlined that the company's next phase of plans will focus on three key directions, including: expanding its business footprint through mergers and acquisitions; enhancing financing capabilities through capital market instruments; and exploring bitcoin-collateralized lending businesses. (The Block)
Odaily News – Nasdaq-listed trading and investment platform eToro has agreed to acquire U.S. online brokerage TradeZero in a deal valued at up to $231 million. The acquisition marks a key step in eToro's efforts to expand its U.S. market presence and strengthen its capabilities for active traders. ReutersThe acquisition announcement was released alongside eToro's Q2 2026 earnings report. The report shows that eToro continued to achieve profitable growth in the second quarter, with net contribution rising 9% year-over-year to $229 million, driven primarily by stronger equity trading activity.Founded in 2015, TradeZero primarily serves active U.S. traders and also operates in Canada and other international markets. eToro stated that following the acquisition, it will expand its U.S. retail customer base, gain stronger brokerage infrastructure, and accelerate the rollout of new products in the U.S. market. ReutersIn recent years, eToro has continued to strengthen its digital asset and on-chain finance capabilities. The company previously acquired self-custody crypto wallet provider Zengo to enhance its digital asset offerings and explore the convergence of traditional finance and the on-chain economy. The acquisition of TradeZero reflects eToro's strategic direction of building a comprehensive financial ecosystem across equity trading, crypto assets, and multi-asset investment platforms. The TradeZero deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. (The Block)
Odaily News: Ondo Finance announced a partnership with Grvt, a hybrid decentralized trading platform built on ZKsync, to establish a $100 million position in Ondo USDY over the next year, expanding its on-chain fixed-income asset portfolio.Under the collaboration plan, Grvt will integrate USDY into its yield product, Grvt Earn. The platform will hold and manage USDY directly on its balance sheet, incorporating the associated returns into the unified base yield currently offered to users. This allows users to benefit from the yield without needing to purchase USDY separately.USDY is a yield-bearing tokenized security launched by Ondo Finance, primarily backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries, Treasury-based ETF shares, and bank deposits. According to RWA.xyz data, USDY is currently one of the third-largest tokenized asset products, with approximately $2.14 billion in assets under management and around 15,600 holders. (The Block)
According to The Block, open-source Bitcoin payment processor BTCPay Server disclosed a critical security vulnerability being actively exploited last Friday and urgently requested users to upgrade to version 2.4.2. The vulnerability affects all versions prior to 2.4.2; attackers can use it to steal administrator macaroon authentication credentials of LND nodes, thereby fully controlling the connected Lightning Network wallets. Users such as Foundation and Citadel21 have confirmed that their Lightning node funds were drained, but BTCPay has not publicly disclosed the total amount stolen or the number of affected nodes. Currently, the official release version 2.4.2 has fixed this vulnerability, and on-chain hot wallets are not affected. The BTCPay Server Foundation has donated 0.21 BTC each to security researcher Craig Raw and Bitcoin Red Team to commend their responsible private disclosure of the vulnerability. Meanwhile, BTCPay supporters have promised to provide a bounty incentive of "10% of recovered funds," capped at 3 BTC.
Odaily News: The Bitcoin network has experienced a fork due to the BIP-110 proposal. Nodes supporting the proposal rejected blocks at height 961,632 that did not contain a signal of support. As of now, the Bitcoin main chain has advanced to block 961,651, while the BIP-110 fork chain has only reached block 961,633, trailing the main chain by 18 blocks.BIP-110 is a one-year rule adjustment aimed at limiting non-financial data writes in Bitcoin transactions, including uses such as Ordinals inscriptions. The proposal requires that within a roughly two-week period of 2,016 blocks, at least 1,109 blocks (55%) signal support to activate, but the previous period only saw support from 51 blocks, accounting for 2.53%.Currently, the BIP-110 chain still needs more miner support to continue advancing. According to the rules, the chain must reach block 963,648 to lock in the rules, and will begin formally enforcing the restrictions at block 965,664, lasting approximately one year. (The Block)
Odaily News - Investment firm Bernstein recently released a report assigning different ratings to two major Bitcoin miners transitioning to AI infrastructure: maintaining an "Outperform" rating on CleanSpark with a price target of $24, and initiating coverage on MARA Holdings with a "Market-Perform" rating and a price target of $17.Bernstein analysts stated that the core reason for the valuation divergence between the two companies lies in their differing progress in executing AI infrastructure transitions. CleanSpark has already signed an anchor tenant agreement for an AI data center and commenced construction, while MARA is still awaiting its first commercial AI contract.Regarding CleanSpark, the company previously announced the signing of a 20-year triple-net lease agreement with a global high-investment-grade technology firm, covering 175MW of IT capacity at its Sandersville, Georgia project. The agreement also includes exclusive cooperation arrangements for CleanSpark's total 885MW asset portfolio in Texas. Bernstein believes that CleanSpark's collaboration with tenant-designated engineering and construction contractors helps mitigate risks associated with its first large-scale AI infrastructure deployment. The first data center hall is expected to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2027.In contrast, Bernstein's assessment of MARA is more cautious. Analysts pointed out that the first commercial AI contract will serve as a key catalyst for a re-rating of MARA's stock, noting that company management previously indicated expectations of signing at least two AI lease agreements by the end of this year. (The Block)
Odaily News – The ethics provision of the CLARITY Act, proposed by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego, would require Trump to divest his crypto-related business assets, an arrangement that could allow Trump to defer federal taxes on gains from those assets for years, potentially saving millions of dollars. This provision has become one of the key factors driving the passage of the CLARITY Act, the first comprehensive crypto regulatory bill in the U.S., through the Senate. The latest version also permits state attorneys general to enforce the rules, whereas the previous version only granted enforcement authority to the Department of Justice.As of Thursday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader John Thune had not yet filed a cloture motion, a necessary step before a formal vote. (The Block)
According to The Block, Cloudflare has announced the early launch program for programmable stablecoin wallets, designed specifically for AI agents to pay for APIs, data, and online content. The wallets are divided into two categories: Account Wallets for individuals and institutions to fund and control spending, and Virtual Wallets that operate via API keys, allowing AI agents to complete purchases autonomously. Users can set spending limits, authorized merchant lists, and per-transaction limits. The wallet will support the x402 protocol developed by Coinbase, enabling machine-to-machine micropayments without traditional accounts or subscriptions. Currently, users can claim wallet accounts in advance, with funding and payment functions going live soon.
据 The Block 报道，德克萨斯州州长 Greg Abbott 本周一下令要求公用事业委员会（PUCT）及电网运营商 ERCOT 对州内所有在队列中的数据中心项目展开审计，ERCOT 随即暂停了原定本月公布结果的"Batch Zero"大型用电审批流程。目前数据中心申请占 ERCOT 474GW 互联队列的约 90%。 Bernstein 分析师在周二发布的客户报告中指出，此次监管审查将抑制投机性开发、压缩新增电力容量供给，从而提升已获批电力容量的稀缺价值，利好现有比特币矿企及 AI 运营商。报告点名 Cipher Digital（CIFR）、CleanSpark（CLSK）及 Core Scientific（CORZ）受审计影响较大，因其近期扩张计划依赖德州电网接入；而 Terawulf（WULF）因电力资产分布于肯塔基、马里兰及纽约等多州，抗风险能力较强；Riot Platforms（RIOT）和 IREN 则因已在 ERCOT 拥有大规模获批运营资产而受益。
According to The Block, a Telegram spokesperson stated that Telegram has been relisted on the Apple App Store and will soon be open to all users again.
According to The Block, the JPMorgan analyst team (led by Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou) released a report on July 30 stating that the probability of the "Clarity Act" (Crypto Market Structure Act) passing in the US Senate within the year has dropped to a historic low. The Kalshi prediction market shows a passing probability of only 37%, while Polymarket is even lower at 26%. Analysts pointed out that disagreements on core issues such as ethical provisions, enforcement standards, stablecoin yields, decentralized finance, and illicit finance remain unresolved. Voting is expected to be difficult to complete before the Senate summer recess, and may be postponed until after senators return in mid-September.
According to The Block, bipartisan Senators Thom Tillis (Republican) and Ruben Gallego (Democrat) submitted a new ethics compromise proposal to the White House on Thursday morning local time, attempting to break the deadlock in advancing the Clarity Act cryptocurrency legislation. Currently, there is less than a week left until the Senate recesses on August 7, but the bill still has not obtained the 60 votes required for passage. Democrats insist on adding stricter ethics provisions to constrain the Trump family's crypto interests, including the Meme coins they issued and the World Liberty Financial project in which the family participates, while some Republican senators have objections to the stablecoin interest provisions, worrying that it will divert deposits from traditional banks to the crypto sector. Although the draft leaked last week prohibited public officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets, it did not cover other family members, and included a "sunset clause" expiring in January 2029, which critics believe essentially nullifies the entire ethics provision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent subsequently blamed the Democrats on X, stating that they "chose political gaming on the verge of a major victory". The Crypto Innovation Committee (CCI) warned that if the bill fails to pass, the US will hand over its global leadership position in the field of crypto regulation.
According to The Block, Aave founder Stani Kulechov announced on July 30, 2026, that Aave proposed to delist 50 low-adoption asset reserves and 21 expired Pendle PTs, and completely shut down six small deployments: Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium, and Aptos, involving a total of approximately $98.1 million in supplied assets and $15.6 million in outstanding debt. The proposal was drafted by risk service provider LlamaRisk and executed under Aave's new risk framework, aimed at streamlining operational overhead and reducing maintenance costs for oracle and liquidation infrastructure. Affected reserves will have new activities frozen and supply and borrow caps reduced, while reserve factors for deployments pending closure will be increased to 99% to encourage users to actively close positions.
According to The Block, following the launch of Pump.fun's new default launch mechanism BOOST, the platform's token graduation rate has significantly increased. Last Friday, the graduation rate reached 6.7%, approximately 8 times the average level in June; the average for the preceding four days also remained at 4.7%, higher than the 2.5% of the previous week. The BOOST mechanism targets the approximately 20% of migrated liquidity previously permanently locked in the PumpSwap pool, automatically executing market buys and burning the acquired tokens within the first five minutes after token migration, incentivizing traders to participate more actively in bidding for tokens before bonding by ensuring immediate buy pressure and supply burn. It is worth noting that BOOST only takes effect after a token completes bonding and does not directly increase the proportion of tokens reaching the bonding threshold.
According to The Block, SoFi's crypto trading revenue in the second quarter increased 10% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $134.3 million, with net income of approximately $1.2 million after deducting $133.1 million in transaction costs. Meanwhile, SoFi's stablecoin SoFiUSD has begun processing 24/7 business payments through its business banking platform Big Business Banking, and went live for retail users in May, supporting buying, selling, holding, and exchanging on Ethereum and Solana.