Cryptopolitan

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has used his first post on X to support an open letter urging Washington to keep open-weight AI models available.
The letter pushes back against the Trump administration’s intentions to restrict open source models. These models perform on par with U.S. models while being offered at a lower price.
When did Nvidia’s CEO join X?
Jensen Huang, who runs Nvidia, the most valuable chipmaker in the AI boom, chose to use a policy argument for his July 24 introduction to X (formerly Twitter).
He shared a letter signed by Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), and Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) that explains the importance of access to open source models. Huang stated that these models accelerate innovation, strengthen safety and cybersecurity, and enable sovereignty.
The letter places Huang on the opposite side of Anthropic and some officials inside the administration who want tighter limits on Chinese labs.
Huang has also separately referred to Chinese open-source systems as “excellent” and said American firms should be free to use them.
The letter frames this issue as one of competitiveness and references the open-source software movement of the 1980s. Microsoft, which is one of the signatories of the letter, made a similar case, arguing that U.S. leadership won’t be measured by a single cutting-edge AI model, but by whether the country builds an open, strong ecosystem that reaches every industry.
Investors like venture capitalist Bill Gurley, who circulated the letter, share the same view. “Open models are the competitive edge,” Gurley wrote on X.
“If the U.S. doesn’t lead in open, it won’t lead at all.” Andreessen Horowitz’s co-founder Ben Horowitz said. He added that preserving access to open-weight models is what keeps the benefits of AI from concentrating in a handful of companies.
The signatories acknowledge that released weights carry real risks, since they cannot be recalled once public, and their answer to that problem is targeted safeguards for demonstrated harms rather than a broad prohibition.
Will the U.S. ban Kimi K3?
Cryptopolitan reported on July 20 that the Trump administration was considering placing restrictions on advanced Chinese open-source models after the Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI launched Kimi K3, a system its developers said matched top U.S. models and is offered at a far lower price.
The Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Michael Kratsios, accused Moonshot of building Kimi K3 by distilling Anthropic’s Fable model at an industrial scale, and of acquiring servers fitted with Nvidia’s export-banned GB300 chips through Thailand.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said companies found to have stolen U.S. intellectual property could face sanctions and Entity List designations, writing on X that “open source is not open season on American IP.”
Moonshot has not addressed the allegations.
Will the ban affect smaller companies?
The newly formed Little Tech Association, representing nearly 200 startups including Y Combinator and the encrypted email service Proton, sent letters on Wednesday to President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Kratsios.
The letters explain that shutting American developers off from foreign models would “stifle competition, entrench incumbents, and function as a tax on intelligence.”
Suhail Doshi, the founder of AI infrastructure startup Particle, explained that the restriction of open source models will lead to the death of hundreds of companies.
“It’s great for Anthropic. We’re all going to have to spend money on Anthropic,” he said.
Little Tech executive director Harry Godfrey urged policymakers to use “a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer.”
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Early on Thursday morning, the United States imposed new tariffs on over 60 nations, replacing a short-term charge that had just expired. Allies and trading partners quickly criticized the new duties.
The tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 were announced by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
On July 24, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, they became operative.
According to Washington, the action is directed against nations that it believes have failed to prevent products manufactured using forced labor from entering international markets.
The action follows a major setback for Trump’s trade agenda.
In February, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that setting peacetime tariffs is Congress’s job, not the president’s.
The administration responded by putting a temporary 10% tariff in place under a separate trade law, capped at 150 days.
That measure expired at midnight. The new Section 301 tariffs are meant to take its place on a longer-term basis.
A two-tier system with clear winners and losers
Under the new structure, countries are divided into two tiers based on how they handle forced-labor imports.
Those that ban such goods, have committed to doing so, or have a partial system in place, pay a 10% rate. Everyone else pays 12.5%.
Canada, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom are among the seventeen economies in the lower tier.
Taiwan and the European Union are also eligible for the 10% rate, but it is imposed after subtracting the regular most-favored-nation duty on each commodity; thus, additional tariffs on EU goods do not add to current customs fees as they do for the majority of other trading partners.
Additionally, the EU was given special exclusions for diamonds, cork, generic medications, active chemicals, and aircraft parts.
A European Commission representative welcomed the news with caution, stressing that the outcome was consistent with pledges made in a trade pact struck at Trump’s Turnberry property in Scotland.
European producers currently enjoy a huge advantage over competitors from the majority of the world’s regions.
Brazil is in an even more severe condition.
Brazil, China, Vietnam, and Russia were among the 38 economies that fell inside the 12.5% range. The new duty adds to China and Brazil’s existing Section 301 tariff burden.
A separate 25% Section 301 duty was previously imposed on Brazil due to what the administration claimed were unfair trade practices.
Tensions surrounding legal procedures involving former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have also been linked to the targeting of Brazil.
The repercussions can be widespread. Brazil is a significant supplier of cattle to the United States and the world’s largest exporter of coffee.
The additional levels of tariffs run the danger of increasing supply chain expenses and driving up prices for American consumers.
Allies and legal experts push back
The affected nations replied rapidly.
Brazil called the tariffs “arbitrary” and “unjustified,” stating that Washington had “manipulated an issue of great importance to human rights” to advance its protectionist goals.
Brasília plans to pursue a case with the World Trade Organization under the Reciprocity Law.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has declared that, while his country is open to negotiations, it would also seek other markets.
Australia said it will fight to get the charges repealed, calling them unreasonable.
Norway’s foreign minister indicated that the latest claims were without merit.
Canada claimed that it “should not be targeted,” citing its history of opposing forced labor imports and questioning why it was being targeted as prior tariffs expired.
Legal experts also expressed concerns over the move.
According to Alan Wolff, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, the new tariffs raise the question of whether the president has the legal authority to determine and implement US tariff policy, which Congress has under the US Constitution.
As global supply chains brace for the fallout, the administration now faces a multi-front battle in foreign capitals, international tribunals, and domestic courts alike.
With legal challenges mounting and trade partners mobilizing, Washington’s latest trade maneuver may ultimately be decided in the courtroom rather than the global market.
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A new policy has emerged in India, as a parliamentary committee has asked the Indian government to allow industry-run Self-Regulatory Organizations to regulate India’s crypto market under the auspices of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
This presents a temporary solution for the 39 million people who trade digital assets without any regulation to protect them.
An interim watchdog while a permanent legislation awaits
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance made the recommendation in its 36th report on the proposed Securities Markets Code, 2025. The report was brought before Parliament on July 23. The panel believes recognized SROs should enforce conduct standards for now, while proper crypto legislation is in the works.
The Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) would be under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Utmost priority will be placed on investor protection, with SROs expected to audit exchange reserves, separate customer money legally from company balance sheets, and manage complaints from customers.
The committee observed the systems operational in the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, and the European Union before arriving at the idea of an SRO.
Taxed at 30% but without legal recognition
India currently has no statute recognizing digital assets as a formal asset class. What it does have, however, is a 30% flat tax on crypto profits and a 1% tax deducted at source on transactions, as Cryptopolitan reported before. It also has a Financial Intelligence Unit where money-laundering cases are reported and handled.
The absence of any legislation is where the problem lies and is what the panel is trying to solve. According to the Ministry of Finance, crypto-assets are outside India’s regulatory purview except for taxation, anti-money-laundering, and reporting rules.
The committee also sought clarity with the legal definitions of digital assets because some tokens may act like securities, some like derivatives, and others may belong in a whole different category.
The RBI still tilts towards a ban
The recommendation comes weeks after the Reserve Bank of India pushed for the outright prohibition of crypto for banks while contemplating the banning of private fiat-backed cryptocurrencies. The RBI suggested to the committee in May and June, claiming dollar-pegged stablecoins would interfere with India’s monetary sovereignty.
The tax authorities agree with the RBI. Tax officials believe offshore trades are tough to track, with less than 25% of the 645,000 people who transacted in crypto in the year to March 2023 reporting their profit.
The RBI said the domestic market had 54 FIU-registered service providers and 39.3 million KYC-verified users holding ~20,437 crore rupees, approximately $2.4 billion.
Why the offshore drain is a strong argument
Critics of the present taxation system argue that it has driven crypto activity out of the country, rather than increasing it.
Raghav Chadha, a member of Rajya Sabha, told Parliament in February that about 73% of India’s crypto volume had moved to foreign exchanges and about 120 million Indians make use of foreign platforms, with ~180 crypto startups leaving the country. He argues, “Prohibition is not protection. Regulation is protection.”
Manhar Garegrat, head of Liminal Custody, told NDTV the recommendations are “a constructive step toward building a more mature digital asset ecosystem in India.”
The next steps lie with the government, which the committee expects to draft robust legislation as well as legal definitions of digital assets, all with the goal of assisting the interim SROs.
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Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Chairman and CEO David Solomon stepped out ahead of Wall Street this week, voicing his support for a sweeping piece of crypto legislation even as the bill’s chances of becoming law this year take a serious hit.
“I’m very supportive of moving the Clarity Act forward, so we can get some market structure in place and start to move the innovation process along,” Solomon told Politico.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, if enacted, would formally bring most crypto activity within a legal framework in the United States. It would classify the majority of crypto tokens as non-securities, putting them beyond the reach of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The bill also includes protections for developers who build decentralized software, and takes up the question of whether crypto platforms should be allowed to pay interest on stablecoin holdings.
Solomon admitted the bill has its flaws, saying it is “not perfect” and that, like any legislation, there is room for disagreement. But he argued its real worth is in establishing “a level playing field to enhance market stability and allow these markets to develop appropriately.”
He also suggested the bill could bring more large financial institutions into crypto, something Goldman has been pushing for.
His support goes against other major banks who see the bill’s stablecoin yield provision as a threat.
Banks dig in over stablecoin yields
Stablecoins are dollar-pegged tokens that allow holders to move in and out quickly and are a faster way when it comes to abroad transfer of funds.
Coinbase and other crypto companies offer better rewards on stablecoin balances, which can go upto 3%- 5% per year on tokens like Circle’s USDC. This challenges the sum that banks offer on savings accounts. The crypto rewards were recognized into law through the GENIUS Act. The banks have been pushing hard to reverse that ever since.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has led the charge against it. During a Fox Business appearance in May, he argued that fewer rules give the crypto industry an advantage and “The banks will not accept it that way”.
A group of the country’s largest banking trade associations also warned senators in May that a compromise version of the stablecoin yield rules still contained gaps that could allow companies to get around the restrictions.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pushed back, saying banks are simply trying to protect their deposit-based business by going after a competitor.
Solomon’s endorsement comes at a tricky moment for the bill
Republican senators circulated updated draft language this week that keeps the bill’s core crypto rules intact but adds new limits on what government officials can do in the crypto space.
Democrats have already said that language does not go nearly far enough, particularly when it comes to President Donald Trump’s crypto dealings, as reported by Cryptopolitan previously.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune made clear Thursday that the bill will not pass before Congress breaks for its summer recess. That is a significant blow; negotiators had pointed to August 7 as the date the bill needed to clear the Senate to have a realistic shot at passing in 2026.
Odds on prediction platform Polymarket have dropped to about 38%, down from over 80% earlier this spring.
Thune did leave open the possibility of beginning the Senate floor process before the recess, which could set up a narrow chance in September. “I would like to at least get Clarity started,” he told reporters. “We’ll see where the votes are.”
The Senate’s first order of business next week, however, will be a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that the late Senator Lindsey Graham had championed before his death earlier this month.
Ron Hammond of crypto trading firm Wintermute said support for the Clarity Act still exists in the Senate, but that “the voice of election politics is louder,” with midterm campaigns ahead in November.
Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, one of the bill’s main Republican negotiators, said the most disputed sections remain open for changes that she believes could bring more Democrats on board, but time is running short.
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Wise (NASDAQ: WSE) has lost its bid for a US national trust bank charter, and in less than 24 hours, its shares have dropped by 11%. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rejected the payments firm’s application over anti-money-laundering deficiencies on Thursday, July 23.
Wise has been making moves to expand its footprint in the US, and the bank charter would have been a major step forward in achieving its goal. The fintech, which is headquartered in London, made its debut on Nasdaq in May, relocating its primary listing to New York.
How often does the OCC reject national trust bank charter applications?
The OCC does not usually give outright denials. Reports liken Wise’s case to that of UK digital bank Monzo, which withdrew its own application after the regulator signaled that it was not going to get the approval.
The only difference between both firms is that Wise chose not to withdraw, and the OCC’s decision came as a formal rejection.
Wise filed for the national trust charter over a year ago, and it says that the reasons that the OCC gave for the denial in its letter point back to problems that were tied to that original filing without considerations for where they stand today as a business.
Google Finance data showed the stock trading around 844 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Friday morning, down from a previous close of 905 pence. On Nasdaq, the pre-market data show that it is currently down by 6.51%, trading at $12.08.
What did the OCC actually fault in Wise’s application?
The regulator’s concern was compliance. Wise’s application ran into a public Multi-State Consent Order from July 2025, reached with several US states over weaknesses in the firm’s anti-money-laundering program.
Those failures included being slow to file suspicious activity reports, the alerts banks must send when they spot possible criminal money movement.
Citing the Financial Times, the regulator found that the UK fintech “has no historical experience with fiduciary activities” and that its proposed management failed to show sufficient relevant experience.
Wise says it has since overhauled its controls. “In response to the Consent Order, we have strengthened our local U.S. program, enhanced our investigation and reporting processes, improved the integrity of the data we collect from our customers and increased resourcing for our local compliance program,” the company said in a statement.
Wise added that it works with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and the National Bank of Belgium on these controls.
Why Wise says the old plan no longer works
Wise built its original application around getting a master account at the Federal Reserve, the direct line into the US payment system. The Fed proposed changing that access policy in May 2026 and has also paused account access for uninsured trust banks, which Wise now calls a “non-viable” foundation for its first application.
So the firm plans to refile, this time under the GENIUS Act, the new US law that gives stablecoins a clearer footing alongside traditional payment rails. Wise says its infrastructure is positioned to connect those systems as digital assets grow more common.
The company also mentioned that the setback changes nothing for customers now, as it keeps operating under money transmitter licenses across 48 states in the US and four territories, part of more than 80 licenses worldwide.
In fiscal 2026, Wise served around 19 million customers and moved more than $240 billion across borders, per its SEC filing. About 15% of its revenue comes from the US, against nearly $500 million in earnings on $2.5 billion in revenue for the year ending in March.
The contrast with crypto’s charter wave
The OCC has spent the past year waving crypto firms through the same door Wise just walked into and got bounced out. In December 2025, the same regulator conditionally approved national trust charters for Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, Circle, and Fidelity Digital Assets, and in May 2026, it cleared Nomura’s Laser Digital, a first for a Japanese bank subsidiary.
At least 15 digital-asset firms have applied for OCC charters since the start of 2025.
Wise’s denial shows the agency is still willing to say no when it questions an applicant’s compliance record, even as it opens the federal banking system to newer entrants. Rival Revolut filed a fresh US charter application this year after abandoning an earlier attempt, so Wise will not be the only European fintech testing the regulator’s stance.
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Crypto project shutdowns accelerated in 2026, mostly affecting Web3 projects. The ongoing bear market led to an outflow of users as liquidity repositioned.
Crypto project shutdowns accelerated in H1, with dozens of both large and small shutdowns for the year. The shutdowns range from sundowning projects due to a lack of users or bankruptcies. Some projects shut down after exploits, where they failed to recover the funds and raise new liquidity.
According to Cryptorank, 17 notable projects shut down in 2026 to date. Those projects raised $8.9B in disclosed funding, but failed to make a difference in the crypto economy.
Why are crypto project shutdowns accelerating?
The recent outflow of projects repeats similar patterns from previous bear markets. In 2026, the shutdowns were partially due to consolidation, as a handful of products became the main activity venues. Smaller copycat projects or competitive platforms could not justify their existence and failed to attract enough users.
Web3 projects in 2026 also suffered from slower token trading, as users shifted their liquidity to tokenized equities or perpetual futures trading. The model of crypto startups, which promised token appreciation after the initial raise, did not work during the 2026 bear market.
Web3 products also failed to retain users beyond their initial airdrop stage. Some products shut down after abandoning trends such as NFT marketplaces. Other projects became insolvent, despite the large initial raises. Currently, several legacy ICOs still retain large ETH treasuries, allowing them to have passive earnings as validators.
This time around, the shutdowns and bankruptcies surpassed even the 2022 wave of defunct projects. However, the shutdowns did not have repercussions on the rest of the ecosystem, as in the case of FTX and Terra (LUNA).
As Cryptopolitan reported, some of the shutdowns involved barely used infrastructure and new chains. The recently announced Bitmex shutdown was due to the inability to find a buyer and continue the market’s operations. SecondFi App shut down after a high-profile wallet exploit in June.
Wallets are also winding down, with Magic Eden wallet sunsetting in Q1, and CTRL Wallet running until August.
A total of 95 projects shut down in 2026
According to Rootdata, a total of 95 projects have shut down in 2026 to date. The latest shutdowns include HaHa wallet and Zero Network, a L2 chain with zero fees. Even promising chains like Polygon ZK-EVM shut down after a period with minimal users.
The projects spanned multiple sectors and narratives, including DeFi, SocialFi, asset management, and stablecoin minting. The recent wave of shutdowns also showed there was only enough space for a handful of leading projects in crypto.
Projects that relied on constant funding and new launches also slowed down, as in the case of the Celestia ecosystem and some AI launch platforms. Some projects had a good product-market fit and enough users, but could not survive the bear market cycle, according to analysis from the Gate exchange.
Crypto has always retained the highest failure rate of all startup categories, with up to 95% of projects failing. On average, crypto projects have been found to run for 2.3 years.
The recent wave of shutdowns is also seen as a potential signal for the lowest point of the bear market. The wave of quick launches and cash grabs was over, leaving only the most useful on-chain tools and use cases.
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The European Union has obtained a very effective new sanctioning tool. The EU has the possibility of barring an entire foreign jurisdiction from carrying out crypto transactions in Europe in case it finds a certain country helping Russia avoid sanctions. This measure was included in the EU’s 21st sanction package adopted on July 23, 2026. The new measure has targeted the crypto industry in Georgia, Panama, the UAE and many other jurisdictions.
The ramifications for cryptocurrency firms engaged in transactions concerning EU counterparties are considerable. According to the Council, the said action is termed as “full third-country ban for crypto-asset services,” giving Brussels the authority to stop EU companies transacting with crypto businesses which are deemed as helping with sanction evasion, no matter where they are located.
The trigger the EU built but has not pulled
What distinguishes the measure is that it acts as a caution rather than a restriction. The Council terms it a “strong deterrent,” allowing the EU to take action without putting the measure into effect.
The package does include immediate sanctions against identified targets. The Council notes that fourteen businesses, from Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus that provide cryptocurrency-related services have been added to the EU’s transaction prohibition list. The European Commission has also widened restrictions for Russian nationals – they are no longer allowed to own or manage any cryptocurrency-related businesses.
Overall, the measures reflect Brussels’ strategy: impose sanctions on individual companies now but retain sanctions for entire countries for the future, should they persist in enabling sanctions evasion. It’s a journalistic shorthand for the European Union’s policy approach, because the EU’s main institutions are headquartered in Brussels.
Why global trade, not just Russia, is exposed
The repercussions go beyond Russia’s borders. The Guardian noted that in addition to Russia, banks and crypto businesses in numerous other countries, including Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, India, Georgia, Panama, the Marshall Islands, Belarus, the UAE and some African nations, were among the more than 100 institutions that were singled out by Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
In case the third-country prohibition is enacted, it will not just affect Russian exchanges. In addition to impeding EU businesses from working with cryptocurrency entities in jurisdictions such as Panama and the UAE, it will compel companies operating in these jurisdictions to weigh their options between the EU marketplace and their Russian customers.
The crypto measures adopted by the Commission are part of a broader strategy consisting of financial restrictions, which limit transactions from over 100 Russian banks and prevent them from using financial messaging services. There’s one complaint, though, from a Greek official:
“Sanctions should erode Russia’s economic capacity — not create strategic windfalls for others at Europe’s expense.”
Previously, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air revealed one way that Russian commerce continues across intermediary countries, a loophole that the new cryptocurrency measures are targeting.
Weeks of haggling before the deal was held
It took many weeks of talks before the package of sanctions was finalized. The Kyiv Post reported that the EU ambassadors managed to reach an agreement even when several member states were against some provisions of the draft and pressured Brussels to moderate certain proposals or drop them completely. Since the sanctions require a unanimous decision, every state had an equal influence on the final decision.
As stated in the article, Greece objected to rules restricting European firms shipping Russian liquefied natural gas; Austria was against the penalties affecting Raiffeisen Bank International; and Bulgaria, France and Italy opposed some of the listings put forward for sanctions. Ultimately, it was decided not to implement sanctions on Russian fish imports and on Patriarch Kirill.
Similar caution covers energy policy. The Commission stated that it would impose the ban on transactions with Georgia’s Kulevi refinery, which processes and sells Russian oil, only after a six-month transitional period. This would allow the refinery to stop using Russian crude oil well ahead of the review of the listing by the Council.
What Brussels is signaling next
According to Ukraine, which provided the majority of the supporting evidence, the deal signifies another move to put more pressure on Russia, notwithstanding compromises. Says Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine’s Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy:
“The main conclusion from the 21st sanctions package is that the European Union has once again proved it can reach compromises and continue increasing pressure on Russia,”
He also stated that the development of the 22nd sanctions package is already underway.
For crypto companies that are not based in the EU, the warning is not of instant chaos but of risks ahead. The legal framework has already been established, and Brussels has issued a warning that it is ready to step up sanctions if methods of evasion continue. Whether the EU decides to exercise its cryptocurrency ban will depend on the reactions of the countries in the coming months.
The most important innovation is not just the listing of 14 platforms. For the first time, the EU has created a legal basis to ban crypto-asset services from an entire third-country jurisdiction if it concludes that the jurisdiction hosts platforms facilitating sanctions evasion. Previously, sanctions generally targeted individual firms one by one.
Individuals are listed in the package
Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), said on Friday he was suspending his activity with the organisation ​after being placed on the latest European Union sanctions ‌list.
Dvorkovich, in a statement on the ​FIDE website, denounced the EU move as “unlawful and unfair” and ⁠pledged to challenge it by all possible means.
“However, given that ​until a formal court decision is rendered and/or such decision is cancelled ​or amended, these sanctions could hinder the stable functioning of FIDE, I have decided to voluntarily suspend the exercise of my powers and duties as FIDE ​President with immediate effect…” he said.
Dvorkovich, a former ‌Russian ⁠deputy prime minister who has led FIDE since 2018, said last month he would seek re-election to the presidency. The election is scheduled to take place at FIDE’s general assembly at September’s Chess Olympiad in ​Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The statement also said Viswanathan Anand, an ​Indian world chess champion, would take over as the federation’s interim president.
As of today (July 24), there are only a handful of verified reactions from parties directly affected by the new sanctions. Most sanctioned banks and crypto operators have not issued public statements yet.

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Two of the largest venture capitalists for cryptocurrencies have unstaked Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, worth around $291 million, within a couple of days of each other, causing the price for HYPE to drop below $60 as traders look at a new wave of selling.
According to on-chain tracker Onchain Lens, the bigger shift happened when Paradigm unstaked 2.92 million HYPE tokens worth around $170 million on July 24 after being staked for about eight months.
An entity unstaked $170M worth of $HYPE
Two wallets belonging to the same entity unstaked 2.92M $HYPE (~$170.1M) after being staked for 8 months.
Both wallets now hold 0 $HYPE in the staking contract.
Addresses:
0xcef1c075dbfe6b2d774c74a8b94e8350e9b42c25… pic.twitter.com/e88Ayw44lT
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) July 23, 2026
Two days before that, Multicoin Capital unstaked another 1.96 million HYPE valued at approximately $120 million. As HYPE only recently made its way to the top 10 cryptos, the two back-to-back moves from the best-known investors stood out.
Why $291 million matters against a thin order book
As mentioned by BeInCrypto, the total amount of unstaked tokens accounts for approximately 85% of the daily trading volume of HYPE. That number is worrisome to traders, as although unstaking in itself does not guarantee a sale, it does free the tokens from the lockup that keeps them out of trading. Even in a market that is not too busy, part of that unstaked supply making it to the exchanges would have its impact on the price.
This kind of concern was seen in the trading market too. CoinMarketCap had noted that HYPE was being traded in the range of $57 to $59, down by nearly 25% from its all-time high of $76.70 reached in June.
When tokens are unstaked in Hyperliquid, there is a period of about seven days during which tokens cannot be transferred. Consequently, the amount of HYPE that was unstaked earlier in July will only become liquid by the end of July, and thereafter, the developments in the market will be closely observed.
Multicoin says it rotated wallets, not sold
Upon hearing rumors that Multicoin might be looking to sell, Tushar Jain, co-founder of Multicoin, was quick to respond by saying: “We did not unstake to sell.” Jain also pointed out that it is not uncommon for institutional investors to transfer their cryptocurrencies between wallets as positions on the blockchain are comparatively transparent and privacy is still valued.
His remarks fall in line with Multicoin’s larger investment philosophy. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, the investment company thinks that the HYPE price might reach about $319 by 2028, contending that Hyperliquid is capable of transforming from a decentralized perpetuals exchange to a wider financial platform. This long-term perspective makes the decision to unstake seem more like portfolio management than a sign of potential exit.
Many experts in the field of blockchain have expressed similar views. According to an analysis conducted by Markets Alpha where four wallets were investigated, it was found out that tokens had simply been taken into safekeeping and not transacted in the markets. Lookonchain has also noticed that some of the tokens of Multicoin were transferred via Coinbase Prime.
Approximately 1 million HYPE was also sent to Grayscale to help initiate its Hyperliquid ETF, HYPG, which started trading on Nasdaq in June.
Paradigm, which blockchain researcher Louis.hl indicates as the biggest HYPE holder with about 19 million tokens, has not made a statement regarding the recent unstaking. Louis.hl has also observed that the company previously unstaked 2.14 million HYPE in April.
What the price still has to prove
Not everyone considers the recent unstaking operations a bearish sign.
Market analyst Elon Trades claims that Hyperliquid’s basic parameters are still strong, as the platform keeps gaining ground in the decentralized derivatives market and generating consistent revenue. He also mentioned that he agrees with Jain’s comment that Multicoin had no intentions of selling.
The platform’s fundamentals continue to be strong. In June, Multicoin reported that Hyperliquid generated nearly $873 million in revenue on approximately $2.9 trillion in trading volume in 2025. Moreover, it occupied over 59% of the total open interest across DeFi perpetual futures markets.
Even so, robust business results do not eliminate near-term uncertainty. Investors are currently looking to see what Paradigm, Multicoin, and other key owners will do with their liquidated tokens once they have them available. Possible options include restaking, keeping the tokens, or selling them to another party.
At the moment, that doubt remains present in the market. HYPE has to get back to the $60 level in order to change short-term sentiment. There will be another token unlocking for core team members on August 6, bringing more potential supply in the market which is currently processing the last wave of unstaked tokens.
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U.S. clients can now buy or sell cryptocurrencies at MoonPay using Discover cards, giving them yet another opportunity to invest in digital currencies. By integrating Discover to the list of supported services already featuring Visa and Mastercard, MoonPay has made it possible for clients to process their transactions using any card from the three biggest U.S. payment service providers.
This new update focuses on simplifying cryptocurrency payments rather than just adding extra payment buttons. Card networks are still one of the most important intermediaries between traditional finance and cryptocurrency, and when there are more payment methods, it becomes easier for new buyers to make a move.
As MoonPay states, it works with over 30 million customers in 180 countries, facilitating the payment process for over 500 wallets, exchanges, and applications, including eligible users in the US who have Discover cards.
Discover completes MoonPay’s major U.S. card lineup
Discover is now part of MoonPay’s portfolio of payment methods that already includes Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, bank transfers, and local payment options.
“Every payment method we add removes a reason someone doesn’t convert at checkout,” said Richard Harrison, Vice President of Banking and Payments Partnership at MoonPay. Claudia Schaefer, Vice President at Discover Global Network, pointed out that this partnership enables people to have more options in terms of paying.
The addition is particularly intriguing, given that Discover’s take on cryptocurrency is much more careful than that of Visa and Mastercard. While both of the larger companies have effectively spent years developing crypto programs, partnerships with exchanges, and stablecoin projects, Discover has been a much more minor player in the arena.
While Discover may be smaller than either of its competitors, it still serves millions of cardholders, which will allow MoonPay to tap into a new pool of potential crypto customers.
Network support still doesn’t guarantee approval
Introducing Discover into MoonPay’s checkout process does not imply that cryptocurrency transactions can be processed with all Discover credit cards.
Crypto payments, like Visa and Mastercard transactions, are governed by the policies of the issuing bank. Be it banks or any other financial institutions, they have to choose whether or not to process a transaction involving crypto with their independent risk policies, fraud defense, and compliance. Hence two customers using Discover cards from different banks can be treated differently when making a purchase.
MoonPay did not announce approval or denial ratios for each card network, which complicates comparison of Discover’s performance against Visa and Mastercard. While the integration means improvements in technical capabilities, decisions still lie with the issuing banks.
A broader payments strategy
The launch also occurs as Discover begins a new chapter as the Capital One acquisition of Discover Financial Services has resulted in the creation of one of the biggest integrated card issuers and payment networks in America.
Meanwhile, MoonPay has been growing its business from basic fiat-to-crypto transactions to a much more complex enterprise, including the recent launch of MoonPay agents that leverage artificial intelligence to create self-custodial wallets and execute transactions. According to MoonPay, the company has finally become cash flow positive in 2024 after earning twice as much profit compared to 2023, which proves the increasing demand for its payment solutions.
The integration of Discover is not a significant change in the adoption of cryptocurrencies but is a step toward making it more mainstream. The acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, and Discover in just one checkout is aimed at allowing more individuals to use cryptocurrencies. With the increasing competition in the regulated on-ramp sector, the increase in the means of payment can be as valuable as the creation of a new blockchain solution.


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Tesla’s plans for self-driving taxis and humanoid robots are progressing more slowly than anticipated, which comes in spite of the company spending staggering funds on artificial intelligence. This has led some investors to ask a question they are used to hearing: when are these AI ventures expected to bear fruit?
The market’s reaction to Tesla’s earnings in the second quarter was characterized by that uncertainty. As Investor’s Business Daily reported, investors reacted with a negative influence on the stock after CEO Elon Musk called upon the investors to be patient regarding the rollout of the robotaxi service and the Optimus robot. This downturn in the stock price was consistent with the general post-earning downturn seen in companies relying on AI technologies, such as Alphabet. Since the important part of the value of Tesla comes from its AI prospects rather than from the sales of products, any delay affects the situation considerably.
A first cash burn in more than two years
Prior to the announcement of its earnings, Reuters claimed that Tesla would suffer its first quarterly cash drain in more than two years as its budget priorities changed, focusing significantly on artificial intelligence infrastructure projects and robotics. It is believed Tesla plans to invest approximately $25 billion in data center and manufacturing in 2026, while estimates made by LSEG stated by Reuters indicate that Tesla will suffer an estimated negative free cash flow of $3.3 billion for the quarter.
Musk has progressively established Tesla as a company focusing on robotics and artificial intelligence and not just electric vehicles. Hence, the company’s future success depends on the successful adoption of autonomous driving and humanoid robots.
Morgan Stanley analysts stated in a note mentioned in a Reuters report that “as capex more than doubles and free cash flow turns negative, investors are increasingly focused on evidence that Tesla’s spending is strengthening its physical AI moat.”
Robotaxis still confined to four cities
The apprehensions among investors are primarily rooted in the differences in Tesla’s future pledges and present achievements.
Elon Musk announced plans to have Tesla’s self-driving cars cover half the U.S. market by 2025 after introducing the Austin robotaxi service in April of last year, Reuters claims. The company even told investors that they would enter seven more cities in the first half of 2026.
Both objectives were not achieved.
Today, Tesla’s robotaxi service operates only in Austin, Dallas, and Houston in Texas, along with Miami. Although production has begun on the purpose-built Cybercab, which has neither a steering wheel nor pedals, those vehicles have yet to enter commercial service. Musk described the production ramp as “agonizingly slow,” according to Reuters.
UBS says commercialization could take longer than investors expect
This prudent view is not new. As reported earlier by Cryptopolitan, UBS has cautioned that Tesla’s robotaxi business and its Optimus humanoid robot could take longer than expected to become profitable companies.
UBS analyst Joseph Spark lowered its forecast for vehicle deliveries by Tesla and questioned whether the rollout of robotaxis would meet expectations in the market, according to a report released in March by Business Insider. UBS retained its Sell recommendation and $352 target, stating that the share price had already dropped by 17% as of then. He writes:
“Recent investor feedback has been that Robotaxi and Optimus updates are slower/more muted than expected”
He stated that the challenges posed by Nvidia’s self-driving services and Waymo’s commercial operations make it exceedingly difficult for Tesla to enjoy a considerable competitive advantage anymore.
The questions retail investors wanted answered
Retail investors expressed similar worries before the earnings call. Reuters stated that the highest-voted question on Tesla’s investors’ relations site asked what had been preventing Tesla from achieving its own short-term objectives. Nine out of the top ten questions posed by shareholders were concerning AI projects such as robotaxis, Optimus, and Full Self-Driving.
However, it was not all doom and gloom during the quarter. According to Reuters, between April and June, Tesla achieved record delivery figures, boosted by rising oil prices that prompted greater sales of electric vehicles in Europe. Analysts anticipate that total deliveries for the year will hit about 1.7 million, which is an increase of 3.9% that will break two years of sales declines.
According to Barclays, a more prosperous automotive sector could facilitate Tesla’s funding for AI ambitions. But for investors, just having successful car sales may not do the trick. They want to see demonstrable proof that Tesla’s expensive AI plan is going to pay off.
Metric Latest figure Why it matters Capital expenditure (2026 planned) ~$25 billion Reflects Tesla’s aggressive investment in AI, Robotaxi, Optimus and computing infrastructure. Free cash flow (Q2 2026) -$3.3 billion Shows AI investment is weighing on near-term cash generation. Vehicle deliveries (2025 baseline) 1.7 million Indicates the core automotive business remains the main revenue source while AI businesses scale. UBS price target $352 Reflects a more cautious valuation amid commercialization uncertainty.
Figure 1. Tesla AI investment snapshot (Q2 2026)
Below is a comparison table that clearly separates Tesla’s public ambitions from its reported progress.
Timeline / Goal What Tesla previously said Reported progress (July 2026) Status End of 2025 Robotaxi service could reach about half of the U.S. population. Tesla shifted to a city-by-city expansion strategy, citing safety and regulatory considerations. (Reuters) Behind original ambition Mid-2026 Targeted expansion to seven U.S. metro areas. Reuters reported service has launched in five metro areas, with availability often limited to selected suburban or geofenced operating zones. (Reuters) Partially achieved Current footprint Broad commercial rollout expected as FSD matured. Robotaxi operations include Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, though service levels and supervision vary by city and expansion has been gradual. (Business Insider) Continuing rollout Fleet deployment Earlier projections suggested hundreds of vehicles in major launch markets. Analysts and investors say deployment remains significantly smaller than earlier expectations, with Tesla declining to provide updated fleet targets. (The Verge) Below earlier expectations Autonomous mileage Expected to grow rapidly with expansion. Tesla reported approximately 2.5 million Robotaxi miles, while Reuters noted Waymo has accumulated roughly 220 million autonomous miles. (Business Insider) Still trailing established competitor Commercial strategy Earlier messaging emphasized rapid scaling. Elon Musk now says Tesla will expand cautiously to validate safety and avoid regulatory setbacks before accelerating deployment. (Investor’s Business Daily) Strategy shifted
Figure 2. Promise vs. reported progress (July 2026)
What’s next for Tesla?
Going by Musk’s comments and the fact that Tesla’s Semi factory in Nevada is still scaling up production, next year looks to be the more plausible timeline. Musk stressed that he wants engineers focused on FSD for the Model 3/Y and Cybercab robotaxi for now, noting that Tesla aims to have FSD ready for the Semi right as high-yield manufacturing kicks in.


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Andrew Tate’s DADDY memecoin was trading around $0.007 on Friday. That is more than 97% off its 2024 high.
The influencer posted on X from the Miami cell where US Marshals are holding him. He faces a UK extradition fight.
DADDY craters as its own wallet concentration bites
DADDY lost more than a quarter of its value in the two days following Tate’s arrest. Its market cap has fallen 50% in the past week to less than $5 million. In June 2024, Tate chose the coin as his personal token. It hit a high of about $0.29 that same month.
On July 19, DADDY was trading around $0.0112, down 24% in just one day, with a market cap of around $6.7 million. Trading was thOver 24 hours, only ~$429,000 was traded, enough that even small sell orders push the price hard. The token was already down 96% from its June 2024 high of $0.2886, and not far from its all-time low of $0.0045.
Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps has found that 40% of the total supply went directly to Tate’s wallet from DADDY’s deployer. Cryptopolitan reported about this concentration as far back as November 2024, as the token was already declining on news of a hack at Tate’s Online University.
More than 10 Solana memecoins the Tate brothers backed crashed by about 99% during the 2024 celebrity token rush. Another Tate-branded token, TOPG, which could be unauthorized, is down 99.8% from its June 2024 high on less than $200 of daily volume.
Tate Terminal (TATE) is trading over 99% below its peak in October 2024. Andrew Tate sold his TATE airdrop for about $23,000, despite publicly promising to hold.
Source: CoinGecko.
Tate faces new charges while tweeting from a Miami cell
Andrew Tate, 39, and his brother Tristan, 38, were arrested Saturday by US Marshals. The pair were arrested under a sealed warrant relating to UK extradition proceedings. They were detained as they arrived outside Miami’s James L. Knight Center where Andrew was scheduled to co-host a boxing event.
Bedfordshire Police, the UK force leading the investigation, confirmed the arrest in a statement posted to X.
“Two brothers have been detained by officers in the United States of America, following an investigation by our major crime unit into sexual offences,” the force wrote.
The brothers have denied all allegations. They are also facing a separate trafficking trial in Romania that stems from an indictment filed in 2023.
Tate’s “no contact with the outside world” has not prevented him from posting. Whether he wrote them himself or had a proxy do it, messages went out under his account describing conditions at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.
“I am being held in SHU, the highest level of security which exists. No commissary. No visits. No contact with the outside world. My neighbor is a cannibal who screams throughout the night,” he wrote on X on July 23. The claim that SHU is the highest security level is not correct.
I am being held in SHU, the highest level of security which exists.
No commissary.
No visits.
No contact with the outside world.
My neighbor is a cannibal who screams throughout the night.
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) July 23, 2026
In Britain, the Crown Prosecution Service has approved 38 further charges against the brothers. That brings the total to seven alleged victims. Andrew Tate is now facing seven further counts of rape, trafficking and assault, as well as charges relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography. Tristan is charged with two counts of rape, one of sexual assault and three of trafficking.
“We have decided to prosecute Andrew and Tristan Tate for further offences including rape, arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and offences relating to indecent images of a child,” said Malcolm McHaffie, who heads the CPS special crime division.
The brothers are charged with 59 offenses altogether, with the alleged crimes taking place between July 2010 and August 2017. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, July 27 before Judge Lauren Louis.
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Tesla’s plans for self-driving taxis and humanoid robots are progressing more slowly than anticipated, which comes in spite of the company spending staggering funds on artificial intelligence. This has led some investors to ask a question they are used to hearing: when are these AI ventures expected to bear fruit?
The market’s reaction to Tesla’s earnings in the second quarter was characterized by that uncertainty. As Investor’s Business Daily reported, investors reacted with a negative influence on the stock after CEO Elon Musk called upon the investors to be patient regarding the rollout of the robotaxi service and the Optimus robot. This downturn in the stock price was consistent with the general post-earning downturn seen in companies relying on AI technologies, such as Alphabet. Since the important part of the value of Tesla comes from its AI prospects rather than from the sales of products, any delay affects the situation considerably.
A first cash burn in more than two years
Prior to the announcement of its earnings, Reuters claimed that Tesla would suffer its first quarterly cash drain in more than two years as its budget priorities changed, focusing significantly on artificial intelligence infrastructure projects and robotics. It is believed Tesla plans to invest approximately $25 billion in data center and manufacturing in 2026, while estimates made by LSEG stated by Reuters indicate that Tesla will suffer an estimated negative free cash flow of $3.3 billion for the quarter.
Musk has progressively established Tesla as a company focusing on robotics and artificial intelligence and not just electric vehicles. Hence, the company’s future success depends on the successful adoption of autonomous driving and humanoid robots.
Morgan Stanley analysts stated in a note mentioned in a Reuters report that “as capex more than doubles and free cash flow turns negative, investors are increasingly focused on evidence that Tesla’s spending is strengthening its physical AI moat.”
Robotaxis still confined to four cities
The apprehensions among investors are primarily rooted in the differences in Tesla’s future pledges and present achievements.
Elon Musk announced plans to have Tesla’s self-driving cars cover half the U.S. market by 2025 after introducing the Austin robotaxi service in April of last year, Reuters claims. The company even told investors that they would enter seven more cities in the first half of 2026.
Both objectives were not achieved.
Today, Tesla’s robotaxi service operates only in Austin, Dallas, and Houston in Texas, along with Miami. Although production has begun on the purpose-built Cybercab, which has neither a steering wheel nor pedals, those vehicles have yet to enter commercial service. Musk described the production ramp as “agonizingly slow,” according to Reuters.
UBS says commercialization could take longer than investors expect
This prudent view is not new. As reported earlier by Cryptopolitan, UBS has cautioned that Tesla’s robotaxi business and its Optimus humanoid robot could take longer than expected to become profitable companies.
UBS analyst Joseph Spark lowered its forecast for vehicle deliveries by Tesla and questioned whether the rollout of robotaxis would meet expectations in the market, according to a report released in March by Business Insider. UBS retained its Sell recommendation and $352 target, stating that the share price had already dropped by 17% as of then.
“Recent investor feedback has been that Robotaxi and Optimus updates are slower/more muted than expected,” Spark wrote. He stated that the challenges posed by Nvidia’s self-driving services and Waymo’s commercial operations make it exceedingly difficult for Tesla to enjoy a considerable competitive advantage anymore.
The questions retail investors wanted answered
Retail investors expressed similar worries before the earnings call. Reuters stated that the highest-voted question on Tesla’s investors’ relations site asked what had been preventing Tesla from achieving its own short-term objectives. Nine out of the top ten questions posed by shareholders were concerning AI projects such as robotaxis, Optimus, and Full Self-Driving.
However, it was not all doom and gloom during the quarter. According to Reuters, between April and June, Tesla achieved record delivery figures, boosted by rising oil prices that prompted greater sales of electric vehicles in Europe. Analysts anticipate that total deliveries for the year will hit about 1.7 million, which is an increase of 3.9% that will break two years of sales declines.
According to Barclays, a more prosperous automotive sector could facilitate Tesla’s funding for AI ambitions. But for investors, just having successful car sales may not do the trick. They want to see demonstrable proof that Tesla’s expensive AI plan is going to pay off.
MetricLatest figureWhy it mattersCapital expenditure (2026 planned)~$25 billionReflects Tesla’s aggressive investment in AI, Robotaxi, Optimus and computing infrastructure.Free cash flow (Q2 2026)-$3.3 billionShows AI investment is weighing on near-term cash generation.Vehicle deliveries (2025 baseline)1.7 millionIndicates the core automotive business remains the main revenue source while AI businesses scale.UBS price target$352Reflects a more cautious valuation amid commercialization uncertainty.
Figure 1. Tesla AI investment snapshot (Q2 2026)
Below is a comparison table that clearly separates Tesla’s public ambitions from its reported progress.
Timeline / GoalWhat Tesla previously saidReported progress (July 2026)StatusEnd of 2025Robotaxi service could reach about half of the U.S. population.Tesla shifted to a city-by-city expansion strategy, citing safety and regulatory considerations. (Reuters)Behind original ambitionMid-2026Targeted expansion to seven U.S. metro areas.Reuters reported service has launched in five metro areas, with availability often limited to selected suburban or geofenced operating zones. (Reuters)Partially achievedCurrent footprintBroad commercial rollout expected as FSD matured.Robotaxi operations include Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, though service levels and supervision vary by city and expansion has been gradual. (Business Insider)Continuing rolloutFleet deploymentEarlier projections suggested hundreds of vehicles in major launch markets.Analysts and investors say deployment remains significantly smaller than earlier expectations, with Tesla declining to provide updated fleet targets. (The Verge)Below earlier expectationsAutonomous mileageExpected to grow rapidly with expansion.Tesla reported approximately 2.5 million Robotaxi miles, while Reuters noted Waymo has accumulated roughly 220 million autonomous miles. (Business Insider)Still trailing established competitorCommercial strategyEarlier messaging emphasized rapid scaling.Elon Musk now says Tesla will expand cautiously to validate safety and avoid regulatory setbacks before accelerating deployment. (Investor’s Business Daily)Strategy shifted
Figure 2. Promise vs. reported progress (July 2026)
What’s Next for Tesla?
Going by Musk’s comments and the fact that Tesla’s Semi factory in Nevada is still scaling up production, next year looks to be the more plausible timeline. Musk stressed that he wants engineers focused on FSD for the Model 3/Y and Cybercab robotaxi for now, noting that Tesla aims to have FSD ready for the Semi right as high-yield manufacturing kicks in.

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Robinhood CEO X breach became the focus of attention after an unauthorized post appeared on Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account, promoting a fake memecoin called VLAD and sharing what was later identified as a fraudulent token contract.
The post remained visible for less than 20 minutes, attracting more than 175,000 views before users flagged it as suspicious. Robinhood later confirmed the account had been compromised and said it was working with X to restore access while removing the unauthorized content.
On-chain monitors estimated that wallets tied to the incident extracted about 650 Ether, valued between $1.2 million and $1.3 million.
Robinhood CEO X Breach Led to Fake VLAD Token Promotion
The unauthorized post claimed VLAD was Robinhood Chain’s official mascot token and included a contract address for users to purchase it. It also stated that the token would be listed on Robinhood’s trading platform, although Robinhood made no such announcement.
Onchain Lens first reported the account compromise. Robinhood Chain’s blockchain explorer later marked the contract as a scam. Robinhood confirmed the incident through its Robinhood Comms account, stating that it was coordinating with X to regain access while the post had already been removed.
According to on-chain monitor MLM, wallets associated with the incident extracted about 650 ETH, worth roughly $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Wu Blockchain also shared the reported findings.
An online investigator using the name Jeff said a wallet believed to be linked to the attackers spent about $126.81 to purchase 47.2 million VLAD tokens. Based on quoted market prices at the time, the holding showed an unrealized value of approximately $159,000.
However, the estimate did not indicate that the full amount could have been sold because liquidity for scam tokens is often limited.
Robinhood CEO X Breach Highlights Robinhood Chain Activity
The fake promotion came shortly after Robinhood Chain‘s release on July 1. The blockchain is built as an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network using the Arbitrum Orbit stack, handling approximately 6 million transactions per day and accommodating both tokenized real-world assets and vibrant memecoin trading.
Blockchain data revealed the fraudulent token had about 1,868 transactions shortly after it was deployed by a contract called PonsLaunchFactory, which was later flagged as a scam by the blockchain explorer.
The incident also coincided with the announcement that Robinhood Chain would launch V2, one of the token launch platforms on the crypto chain.
The roadmap features an ETH-based bonding curve, integration with Uniswap V4, creator payouts in ETH or selected assets, support for custom trading pairs corresponding to assets like USDG, AAPL, NVDA, and HOOD, and optional reflection token features, to name a few.
The site claimed that the new contracts are still being audited and haven’t been implemented yet.
Attack Shows Continued Focus on Social Media Compromises
The illegal post was live for a brief time, but transaction data showed continued interaction with the token before its removal. The message was based on the activity of Robinhood Chain memecoins and had the false claim of an official token listing to draw in buyers.
The incident adds to a series of attacks where compromised social media accounts have been used to promote fraudulent tokens or publish malicious contract addresses. While some types of phishing attacks have seen losses diminish, others have escalated into cryptocurrency fraud, security researchers say.
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Anthropic is giving Claude’s voice mode a major upgrade, allowing paid users to run spoken conversations on its more powerful Opus and Sonnet models for the first time.
Until now, every voice request was routed through Haiku 4.5, Claude’s smaller and faster model. The upgrade will make voice mode more suitable for handling difficult tasks and is just weeks after OpenAI’s release of their own conversational platform upgrade called GPT-Live.
Claude voice finally moves beyond Haiku
Voice mode has been part of Claude since last year, letting people speak to the chatbot rather than type. The catch, as Engadget noted, was that Anthropic pushed those spoken requests through Haiku, its smallest and fastest model, to keep response times low. That trade worked for quick questions and fell apart on anything harder.
The new release lets users pick Opus or Sonnet instead. Anthropic told TechCrunch that voice now defaults to whichever model the user last used in text chat, running its fastest variant so the exchange still flows. A model picker inside the interface lets users swap between Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus without leaving the conversation, per 9to5Mac.
TestingCatalog, which spotted the feature under a flag before the announcement, reported that the picker had sat inside voice mode for roughly three weeks as a cosmetic control, with every session still routed to Claude Haiku 4.5 regardless of the choice.
Selecting Opus or Sonnet only began changing the actual model this week.
App connectors make voice useful for work tasks
The upgrade also opens voice mode to Claude’s app connectors. TechCrunch reported that the assistant can now reach into Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Canva, and Notion, so a spoken request can move a meeting, draft an email, or spin up a Notion document. Engadget confirmed voice can pull context from connected apps once a user grants permission.
Anthropic framed the tasks this unlocks as longer, messier ones: rehearsing a client pitch, getting feedback on how you communicate, or working through product research aloud. “This release is focused on intelligence and tool access,” the company said, adding it plans more voice work later this year.
As Cryptopolitan reported, Anthropic reached a roughly $350 billion valuation in November 2025 and derives approximately 80% of its revenue from more than 300,000 business and enterprise customers.
That makes connector access the more important part of the voice upgrade. Enterprise users can ask Claude questions regarding their emails, calendars, Slack messages, and documents using voice queries, making this tool more relevant to how larger customers have deployed Claude for themselves, as seen in applications like the autonomous agents used in Alberta, spanning 27 ministries, and at Deloitte, with 470,000 employees.
Anthropic expands language support for voice users
9to5Mac listed 11 supported languages: English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish for both Latin America and Spain.
Moving between these languages does not happen automatically. Engadget said that users would need to say out loud that they are going to switch their language or choose a new one in the voice settings menu. Free accounts remain capped at Haiku and a single connected app but can still speak in every supported language.
Claude and GPT-Live take different paths
These two companies seem to be going about voice technology in different ways. According to a representative from Anthropic, Claude has a turn-based system, meaning it listens, thinks, and then speaks. This is unlike OpenAI’s GPT-Live, which simultaneously listens and speaks. It was released for all ChatGPT subscribers on July 8, 2026, and was referred to as “the primary interface to computing.”
Anthropic did not change Claude’s underlying voice model in this release and has not fully detailed the technology behind its voice stack, TechCrunch reported. That means users may not see major improvements in areas such as smoother interruptions.
According to TestingCatalog, Claude still seems to use text-to-speech technology for its voice, with the voice output coming from ElevenLabs. Nevertheless, TestingCatalog was able to see that interruption processing is still working fine.
One edge Anthropic keeps is tooling. TechCrunch pointed out that OpenAI’s refreshed voice mode changed its conversational style but still cannot use tools to complete tasks.
The new voice mode is rolling out in beta to all users on desktop, mobile, and web.

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Zhibao Technology said on July 22 it had signed a non-binding term sheet. The Nasdaq-listed Shanghai insurance-tech company agreed to accept about 3,500 Bitcoin, worth about $220 million, for new stock.
The buyer would pick most of the board and take control. Zhibao got a Nasdaq deficiency notice a week earlier for trading below $1. And the proposed Bitcoin position dwarfs its entire market value.
Zhibao takes Bitcoin instead of cash for new shares
The buyer is a company named Joyertech and Information OPC. A term sheet disclosed in a Form 6-K would have it subscribe to a private investment in public equity, or PIPE. This is a sale of shares directly from the company to a private investor, not on the open market.
The consideration is about 3,500 BTC, which in its own press release Zhibao said was worth around $220 million. The coins would be on the balance sheet at closing, not purchased on an exchange.
As of writing this, BTC was changing hands around $65,144. Since the Bitcoin is paid directly for equity, the arrangement does not add any new buying pressure to the open market.
Zhibao trades as ZBAO. It claims to be the first in China to adopt what it calls the “2B2C” embedded-insurance model. The firm launched the first digital insurance brokerage platform in the country in 2020. Zhibao says it has developed 40+ insurance products in sectors including travel, logistics and e-commerce.
Zhibao’s market cap is in the vicinity of $12 million to $15 million. The proposed Bitcoin holding is ~$220 million. That’s about 15 times the company’s equity value.
Zhibao received a Nasdaq deficiency notice on July 15 concerning the minimum bid price. Its stocks traded below $1 from May 27 to July 9. It has until January 6, 2027, to come back into compliance.
The company is a going concern based on previous filings with the SEC. The company’s Form F-1/A said there is “substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern,” citing accumulated deficits and cash outflows.
The stock of Zhibao briefly more than doubled in value on the announcement, reaching $0.40. That may help on the price test, though the deal has not closed.
Board control, not the insurance business, is the real prize
The term sheet states Joyertech will name a majority of the board when the PIPE closes. Zhibao’s existing team continues to run the legacy insurance business “until the separation, disposition, or other restructuring” of that business, the filing said. The current operation will simply continue to exist until the new owners decide what to do with it.
A term sheet is specifically non-binding. Zhibao listed a series of gates that need to be cleared first. These include final valuation, custody arrangements, audit, regulatory review, Nasdaq sign-off and definitive agreements.
The company said there was no guarantee the deal would be consummated on these terms or at all. Any one of those conditions could sink it.
If it does, Joyertech can move to “separation or disposition” language. A quick wind down of the insurance arm would suggest that the wrapper not the business was the target. It would be part of a wider trend of listed companies relying on Bitcoin.
Cryptopolitan has reported on that pattern in the other direction in Empery Digital’s change away from a Bitcoin treasury towards AI data centers under shareholder pressure.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada will do “whatever it takes to defend and support Canadian workers, farmers, businesses, and families” in the ongoing trade war with the United States.
Speaking to Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial premiers at a Council of the Federation meeting in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Carney called Trump’s Monday threat of 50% tariffs on roughly C$20 billion of Canadian goods “unwarranted.” Asked later about retaliation if no deal is reached before the August 19 deadline, Carney told reporters “everything is on the table depending on the outcome of the negotiations.”
He further stated that a preemptive response would be futile at this point and mentioned that diversification of trade relations away from the U.S., as well as strengthening of vulnerable industries, would constitute practical steps in this regard.
Carney spoke directly with Trump on Tuesday morning, per Global News, and the two leaders agreed to intensify trade negotiations. That gives negotiators about 27 days.
What Trump is targeting and what he is sparing
The United States announced the new duties on Monday, citing what it called “unequal treatment” of American cars, dairy, and alcohol by Canada. Everyday consumer goods sit in the crosshairs, including wine and hockey sticks, alongside industrial products such as cement, per BBC News.
Several major exports were spared. Energy, potash, critical minerals, and fish products are not targeted here, thereby limiting the damage to the biggest natural resource industries in Canada and giving reasons why Alberta and Saskatchewan are less aggressive about retaliation.
Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative, on Wednesday defended the new tariff duties to Congress by saying that they are an integral part of an effort to protect American workers and reduce the trade deficit which, according to him, is a “national emergency.”
Greer was hoping to conclude interim agreements with Canada and Mexico before the end of the year but admitted that more challenging aspects, such as rules of origin for cars, labor and environmental standards, may take until 2027.
Premiers split over how hard Canada should retaliate
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has emerged as the most aggressive voice, advocating at the meeting for withholding Canada’s potash and oil exports to the US in what he called an effort to “dismantle” American supply chains dependent on Canadian resources. Ford said Ontario is “not going to keep rolling over for Donald Trump.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith took the opposite position. Smith told Global News that Carney is “wise” not to retaliate for now and that “you don’t go into a discussion saying you’re going to punch somebody in the nose if they don’t give you what you want.”
Alberta and Saskatchewan have both ruled out export curbs or duties as pressure tools, per Reuters. Premier Andrew Furey of Newfoundland and Labrador said that “his province was 97 percent ‘tariff-free'” and did not agree with Ford’s dismantling rhetoric.
Carney’s trade strategy shifts from patience to pressure
As Cryptopolitan reported in October 2025, Carney’s earlier response to Trump tariff threats was a diplomatic “we’re ready when you are” posture from Malaysia, without retaliation. This position changed after President Trump increased tariffs by 10 percent over an Ontario advertisement campaign, and then ended the negotiations.
The trade war began in March 2025 when Trump imposed 25% tariffs justified by fentanyl concerns. Canada retaliated. By August 2025, Trump had raised tariffs to 35% and Canada rolled back some of its retaliatory measures on USMCA-compliant consumer goods.
October 2025 saw the Reagan-ad blowup and a suspension of talks. Trump then threatened 100% tariffs in January 2026 over concerns about Chinese trade routing through Canada.
Monday’s 50% threat on $20 billion of goods is the third major escalation this year and the sharpest since talks collapsed in October. The full USMCA renegotiations were initiated on July 1, 2026, as Washington refused to extend the existing agreement.
About 85% of Canadian exports are presently imported into the US tariff-free via USMCA, according to earlier reports by Cryptopolitan, which provides Canada some advantage during the renegotiation process in case of implementation of the 50% tariff threat.
Ottawa has 27 days to avoid a tariff shock
Carney’s “everything on the table” remark leaves Ottawa with several possible responses, from retaliatory tariffs like Canada used in March 2025 to export limits, procurement restrictions, energy taxes, a WTO complaint, or coordinated action with G7 allies.
Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been leading day-to-day negotiations with the White House. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly floated European trade counter-measures at the meeting Wednesday, per Global News.
Smith argued domestic US pressure may also work in Canada’s favor. She noted softwood tariffs push US home prices up, food tariffs raise grocery costs, and steel-aluminum-auto tariffs hit consumer goods across the board, and that American voters are already feeling the effects.
Whether the “whatever it takes” framing translates to retaliation after August 19 depends on whether Trump’s threats materialize, whether the negotiating team can extract enough concessions in 27 days, and whether Ford or Smith’s provincial theory of the case prevails.
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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su told a San Francisco audience on Thursday that AMD’s Helios rack scale system is in full production, setting the chipmaker up to assess the AI data center business that Nvidia has controlled almost by itself.
It is the first time AMD has fielded a complete server cabinet built to go head-to-head with Nvidia’s top rack.
AMD Helios server rack components
Helios packs 72 of AMD’s new Instinct MI455X GPUs and pairs them with the company’s Epyc server CPUs all in a single rack. This configuration puts it up there with Nvidia’s NVL72, which also runs 72 GPUs and draws on the Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin parts.
Su stated during her keynote at the Advancing AI event that the MI455X was the most powerful GPU on the market, a claim directly aimed at the current leader.
Constellation Research, reporting from the event, said each MI455X carries 432GB of HBM4 memory, moves data at 23.3 TB/s, and holds about 320 billion transistors. A full server rack can get up to 2.9 exaflops of peak FP4 compute, 31 terabytes of HBM4 memory, and 1.7 petabytes per second of memory bandwidth.
AMD pitches against Nvidia’s Vera Rubin
CEO Su explained that the Helios server rack brings a lot of value in addition to its raw power. She said the rack delivers 15% better compute performance than Nvidia’s Vera Rubin, carries 50% more HBM, and returns 30% more tokens per dollar. AMD also pushed its Epyc 9006 CPUs, which Su said offer 20% higher per-core performance than Nvidia’s Vera CPU.
The company is chasing a market Nvidia currently owns. Nvidia’s share of the AI data center space is reported to be at about 80% to 90%.
To close this gap, AMD said it struck a deal with Cerebras to fold the firm’s inferencing chips into its data center lineup, which resembles the Nvidia deal with designer Groq.
AMD bets on inferencing
AMD is betting on inference as the computing workload that hits high levels next. Su told the event that about 60% of compute capacity will go to running models instead of training them, and she pointed to AI agents as the next driver of this change.
AMD’s launch post said monthly token consumption has increased 158 times in two years, and that on the DeepSeek-V4-Flash model the MI455X hits up to 34 times higher token throughput at high interactivity.
Reports claim AMD had already lined up Helios deals with Anthropic and Microsoft, and featured both OpenAI and Anthropic on stage during the keynote. Su said Helios demand is “extremely strong” and put the AI accelerator market at $1.4 trillion by 2030.
AMD stock dipped by more than 2% while Su spoke, according to Yahoo Finance. However, looking at the bigger picture, AMD’s shares are up 222% over the past 12 months, compared to 117% for Nvidia over the same period of time. AMD has trailed its rival for years and only began closing the gap this year.

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OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health feature is now live for all users over 18 years old in the US. That’s across Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans.
The feature comes one day after a Florida pastor sued the company over a suggestion he says almost cost him his life.
Millions of people are already feeding medical questions into the chatbot. OpenAI’s own terms still warn against relying on it for diagnosis or treatment.
OpenAI widens ChatGPT Health across every conversation
Until now, users searching for health answers had to operate within a dedicated hub. That hub was a pilot launched by OpenAI in January. The restriction is gone, and ChatGPT can now pull from a user’s connected health data during any conversation. In a normal conversation, if asked about food or allergies, it can use information the user has associated with those topics.
OpenAI said its testing found most health activity was happening outside the hub anyway, at a rate of 70%. Weekly health-related questions have increased from 230 million in January to 300 million now, said OpenAI. Logged-in users in the US on the web and iOS will get access this week as it rolls out. The feature isn’t yet in OpenAI’s coding tool, Codex.
Health in ChatGPT is starting to roll out to U.S. users.
You can securely connect Apple Health and supported medical records to understand your information in context, track what has changed, and have more informed conversations.https://t.co/W2E6oT8c91
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 23, 2026
The feature will work depending on the data users choose to connect to. On iPhone, that means Apple Health, as well as services like Function and MyFitnessPal, can be connected. Users can also connect medical records from hospital systems such as Epic and Oracle Health. Platforms such as One Medical and Function Health also operate. Once inside, ChatGPT can place a new lab result next to previous tests. It can also point out what’s changed since the user was last there.
OpenAI says the models behind it have improved. GPT 5.6-Luna, the tiniest model of the newest release, bests the previous GPT 5.5 on HealthBench. That’s an open-source benchmark the company developed to test how well language models handle health questions. OpenAI also said it doesn’t use customer data to train its models and collaborates with physicians to refine them.
A lawsuit shadows the ChatGPT Health rollout
On the eve of the announcement, a Florida pastor sued OpenAI. He says the chatbot told him not to consult a doctor, advice he says almost killed him.
OpenAI responded with language from its own terms. The service, they say, is “not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of any health condition.” The company also told The New York Times that it’s working to make its answers around health and medicine safer. With this launch, said the company, it wants users to fact-check information and make medical decisions based on professional advice.
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Blackstone saw higher earnings than were expected on Wall Street in the second quarter, as gains from its AI holdings and record client inflows lifted the company’s assets under management to about $1.35 trillion.
Blackstone says nine of its ten best-appreciating positions are tied to AI.
Quarterly earnings beat consensus by wide margin
The firm’s distributable earnings reached $1.52 a share, up from $1.21 in Q2 2025. Analysts polled by LSEG had penciled in $1.35, so the actual figures cleared consensus comfortably.
Total revenue increased by 36% to $5.04 billion, while fee-related earnings at $1.43 a share equaled $1.78 billion.
The firm’s infrastructural investments arm had gross returns of 7.2%, with positive asset sales after a slow start to the year. Blackstone sold a partial stake in three data centers to Digital Realty, and handed control of power-infrastructure company Sabre Industries to TPG. These deals increased total monetization proceeds to $31.8 billion.
AI at the centre of Blackstone portfolio
Blackstone Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman said the quarter validated the firm’s earlier AI bets. The company has “decided to lean into the artificial intelligence megatrend,” he said, adding that becoming “a trusted partner at scale to many of the key innovators” had left the firm well positioned.
Its holdings include a stake in Anthropic, the maker of Claude, plus a data center business positioned as a core profit engine. Blackstone took the data center platform QTS private in a $10 billion deal in 2021, and the platform has appreciated sharply as demand for computing capacity has increased in recent months.
Private equity positions in SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI added to the gains, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The firm also continues to write large checks for AI, with its credit and insurance unit joining a $35 billion financing platform built alongside Broadcom and Apollo Global Management to fund AI infrastructure for frontier labs, including Anthropic. In a separate arrangement, Blackstone and Google announced that they would form an AI cloud company running on Google’s chips, with Blackstone committing $5 billion in equity.
Retail money sees reduction
New retail money into BCRED, the flagship private credit fund for individual investors, dropped to $1 billion from $1.9 billion in Q1 and $3.7 billion a year earlier. The fund’s net returns recovered to 0.4% after an unexciting first quarter, still short of the 2.2% it delivered a year ago. The BCRED fund holds $79 billion in total.
Blackstone Private Equity Strategies saw $2.4 billion, the BXINFRA infrastructure fund took in $861 million, and the BREIT real estate trust collected $1.2 billion.
In an interesting turn of events, Blackstone shares slipped in early trading, coming back from an initial premarket burst to dip 1.1% before the Thursday open.
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