Decrypt

North Carolina's budget law delegates oversight of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket to the CFTC, recognizing its federal regulatory authority. The state taxes these platforms at 6%, significantly lower than rates pursued by other states.

Researchers warn that AI agents could be manipulated into downloading malicious code by exploiting hallucinations, the same errors that lead chatbots to make mistakes. This vulnerability could turn AI agents into botnets.

Perplexity fine-tuned a Chinese AI model called GLM 5.2 to match Claude Opus 4.8's performance at one-third the cost. The model combines a cheaper open-source base with a frontier advisor and is already in production use.

Anthropic AI Oversight Board added Ben Bernanke, who oversaw the 2008 Financial Crisis at the Fed. He will have the power to appoint Anthropic board members as part of the company's Long-Term Benefit Trust.

The Ethereum Foundation is deploying AI agents to identify vulnerabilities in the ETH network. This approach shifts security efforts from merely finding bugs to verifying their validity.

Swift has launched a pilot enabling 17 global banks to conduct tokenized deposit transfers on weekends, though final settlement still depends on legacy financial systems.

MARA Holdings has agreed to purchase a sizable plot of land in Texas to power its Bitcoin mining and growing AI compute ambitions. The acquisition is expected to support the company's expansion in these areas.

MoonPay has introduced MoonAgents, an AI-powered service on Telegram that allows users to analyze cryptocurrency markets and prepare transactions while maintaining control of their private keys on their own devices.

Paradigm, a top crypto venture capital firm, has raised a $1.2 billion fund to expand into AI. BNB Chain is repositioning for an AI-driven world, while Bitcoin ETFs experience negative outflows and prediction markets encounter new challenges.

Sony Bank's new US subsidiary, Connectia Trust, is poised to issue a dollar-pegged stablecoin after meeting regulatory conditions set by the OCC.

A 20-year-old's cryptocurrency wallet was used to move $123 million linked to a romance scam, according to Interpol. The arrests in Thailand were part of Operation First Light, a global initiative involving 97 countries that resulted in 5,811 arrests and the interception of $293 million.

SpaceXAI's new coding model Grok 4.5 is positioned as cheaper and faster than Anthropic and OpenAI's flagship models. Elon Musk claims it competes with last year's Claude Opus but acknowledges it is at least one generation behind those models.

Bitcoin remains stagnant despite appearing slightly more optimistic, while Ethereum experienced its worst weekly signal in years, marked by a weekly death cross.

Bitcoin ETFs are showing signs of recovery after experiencing a record outflow of $8 billion. Investors have reduced their holdings since mid-May.

BNB Chain is planning a new Layer-1 infrastructure by 2026 to enhance transaction speed, support AI-powered applications, and compete with traditional financial systems, while also preparing for advancements in quantum computing.

Ripple and XRP have signed a multi-year deal with the Kansas Jayhawks, featuring the XRP logo on their jerseys. The partnership marks Ripple and XRP's entry into the sports marketing space as the latest cryptocurrency brands to do so.

Malaysia seized over 75,000 crypto mining rigs in a power-theft crackdown, resulting in 629 arrests after more than 3,000 raids since 2022.

Kraken, a crypto exchange, secured a $22M award after arbitrator ruled in its favor following accounting firm Mazars' abandonment of a nearly completed audit during Operation Choke Point 2.0.

Vanguard has hired a Head of Digital Assets as crypto majors decline due to the U.S. military strike on Iran ending a ceasefire. A meme coin frenzy is occurring on the Robinhood chain.

Bankers filed a Suspicious Activity Report in May 2024 regarding a £5M gift from a Tether billionaire to Farage. The report prompted the National Crime Agency to assess whether further investigation is warranted.