Samsung Keen on Expansion With US Taylor Factory Acceleration
Samsung Electronics has asked its equipment suppliers to secure safety certification for tools headed to a second chip plant in Taylor, Texas. Samsung is attempting to fast-track the build schedule despite the factory’s specifications not yet being set. The company is willing to run to hit a 2030 production date while AI chip demand continues to outstrip supply. Samsung Electronics is asking its equipment suppliers for a SEMI certification, which is a standard industry safety check that equipment must pass before it can be shipped to another country. Suppliers typically start the certification process only after a factory’s specifications are finalized, but Samsung has told several of its tool suppliers to obtain this certification ahead of the launch of the planned second chip plant in Taylor, Texas, to save time for faster installation later. Samsung wants to hit a 2030 production date Concrete plans for the factory are expected to become clearer by the end of the year, with production expected by 2030. The first Taylor factory already has Tesla as a major customer. Tesla signed a foundry contract worth about 22.76 trillion Korean won ($14.09 billion) with Samsung last year. The contract revived the Taylor timeline, which had been delayed several times due to weak demand and a lack of customers. The first factory is set to open this year and will start trial production as early as next month, focusing on 2-nanometer production. The second factory is yet to have a customer of its own. According to industry sources, the second factory’s timeline depends on whether Tesla expands its orders or a new large customer signs up. Samsung’s construction unit, Samsung E&A, is reportedly preparing to send dozens of staff to the Taylor site to support the work. In an interview, the mayor of Taylor, Jim Buzan, said that Samsung “put in the piers and foundation” for the second plant while it was still building the first. The mayor said Samsung “preplanned it several years back,” and shared that he expects this head start to let Samsung move faster on the second factory than it did on the first. Samsung’s reported figures put its initial minimum Taylor investment at $17 billion, its biggest ever in the United States. The company has owned the land for its Taylor chip site since 2021, and has it zoned for as many as 10 factories. Around 100 Samsung employees have already moved to Taylor, and the total number of newcomers is likely to reach several hundred once partner company staff arrive. Mayor Buzan said Samsung has not received any of the $4.745 billion in CHIPS and Science Act money awarded to it in 2024. The post Samsung keen on expansion with US Taylor factory acceleration first appeared on Coinfea.
Alibaba Profit on AI Spending Drops 76% As Revenue Jumps By 6%
Alibaba grew its revenue 9% last quarter, but shares still fell 6% after profit dropped 76% due to a surge in AI spending, the company reported Thursday. Revenue for the quarter ending June 30 reached 268.95 billion yuan ($39.64 billion), up 9% from a year earlier. Net income fell to 10.54 billion yuan ($1.55 billion), equaling a 76% decline. Non-GAAP net income after removal of share-based pay, investment swings and one-off items still dropped 38% to 20.72 billion yuan ($3.05 billion), while adjusted EBITA fell 30% to 27.33 billion yuan ($4.03 billion). Alibaba’s capital expenditures for Q2 hit 67.68 billion yuan ($9.98 billion), a 75% jump from the same period a year earlier, money the company tied to AI infrastructure. The expenditure drained cash, as free cash flow swung to an outflow of 44.67 billion yuan ($6.58 billion), more than double the 18.82 billion yuan outflow a year earlier. Alibaba records 75% rise in capital spending The unit housing Alibaba’s model work, its Qwen consumer app and the QwenWork enterprise agent, its AI Labs and Applications segment, ran an adjusted EBITA loss of 13.86 billion yuan ($2.04 billion). This loss was only 3.22 billion yuan one year ago. Alibaba blamed the higher numbers on higher inference costs from the Qwen app and deeper investment in its AI stack. The AI Cloud and Compute Services segment lifted revenue by 45% to 48.44 billion yuan ($7.14 billion). Alibaba credited this to an increased adoption of its AI products. Revenue from AI-related products specifically came in at 12.38 billion yuan ($1.82 billion), a 12th straight quarter of triple-digit growth over one year. Unlike the AI applications unit, cloud brought in significant revenue. Its adjusted EBITA rose 133% to 5.63 billion yuan ($830 million). “We delivered a strong quarter, driven by the improving commercialization of our full-stack AI capabilities,” Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said in a statement. Alibaba’s retail engine split in two different directions, with the China Quick Commerce revenue climbing 45% to 53.30 billion yuan, while the larger China E-commerce business slipped 8% to 110.90 billion yuan. Its 88VIP membership tier grew by double digits to about 64 million members as of June 30. Three months earlier, Alibaba posted adjusted net income of just 86 million yuan and its first operating loss since 2021, all caused by the same AI and quick-commerce bills. The company has told investors it aims to reach $100 billion in combined annual revenue from cloud and AI within five years. The scale of the spending in the just-completed quarter shows what this target will cost before it is achieved. The post Alibaba profit on AI spending drops 76% as revenue jumps by 6% first appeared on Coinfea.
Fractile Valuation Jumps After Anthropic Chip Deal
Fractile is discussing a $6.5 billion valuation after securing a preliminary chip agreement worth $250 million with Anthropic. The British chipmaker is seeking about $600 million in new funding at a $6.5 billion pre-money valuation. Additional capital could be raised at another valuation, so the full investment cannot simply be added to calculate a final post-money figure. Anthropic and Fractile have not commented, and the transaction remains unfinished. Fractile Valuation Rises After Anthropic Agreement Fractile was valued at about $1 billion in May after raising $220 million from investors including Accel, Founders Fund, and Factorial Funds. The latest proposed valuation is about six times higher, although May used a post-money figure while the discussion uses a pre-money basis. Fractile has a preliminary agreement with Anthropic to supply roughly $250 million of chips to the Claude developer. Both sides are considering a broader relationship. The chips are expected in 2027, making the agreement forward-looking rather than based on commercial shipments. The revaluation reflects customer validation and expectations around AI inference demand rather than revenue already generated by deployed products. Anthropic Expands Its AI Chip Supplier Network Anthropic said on August 5 that it is building an internal engineering team to develop chips while continuing to use technology from Amazon, Google, Nvidia, and AMD. In April, Anthropic committed more than $100 billion to AWS technologies over ten years for up to five gigawatts of computing capacity. It has also expanded work with Google and Broadcom for multiple gigawatts of TPUs beginning in 2027. Anthropic’s annual revenue exceeded $30 billion in early April, reached $47 billion by mid-May, and surpassed $65 billion by late July, according to several sources. That compares with about $9 billion at the end of 2025. Inference Chip Competition Draws Investor Attention Fractile focuses on inference, the computing process used by trained AI models to generate responses. The company argues that longer reasoning workloads will make latency, memory bandwidth, and cost increasingly important. Company Latest reported valuation Latest round Ship/deployment timing Fractile $6.5B pre-money, under discussion ~$600M, under discussion Chips expected to be ready for use in 2027 Etched $21B $700M First customer Jane Street received a rack in July 2026 and is deploying it internally Groq $3.5B $350M LPU infrastructure already deployed; next-generation Groq 3 LPX targeted for H2 2026 OLIX $3.3B $312M First products targeted for H2 2027 Valuation figures reflect the latest reported transactions and are not always stated on identical pre-money or post-money bases. Fractile founder and CEO Walter Goodwin said in May, “Inference is both the revenue engine of the AI industry and the rate-limiting factor on expanding it.” Other AI chip companies have also attracted large valuations. Etched was valued at $21 billion after raising $700 million and delivered a rack to Jane Street in July 2026. Groq was valued at $3.5 billion after a $350 million round, while OLIX reached $3.3 billion after raising $312 million. Fractile and OLIX still target 2027 product availability. Michael Ashley Schulman of Cerity Partners warned, “Semiconductor history is littered with brilliant chips that never became great businesses.” Fractile’s next test is delivering its chips on schedule and meeting performance and economic targets in 2027. The post Fractile Valuation Jumps After Anthropic Chip Deal first appeared on Coinfea.
Hyperliquid US Push Wins CZ Support As Trump Backs Legal Market Entry
Hyperliquid’s US push has received support from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after President Donald Trump backed efforts to bring the platform into the United States legally. Zhao said the administration’s approach could benefit more than Hyperliquid. He argued that regulatory frameworks created for one company can influence standards across the digital asset industry. Content creator Jake Gagain highlighted Zhao’s remarks on X. Zhao said, “This is not just about Hyperliquid. There will be so many Perp DEXs and decentralized services available to U.S. users. This is hugely positive for everyone in the industry.” Trump Highlights Hyperliquid Compliance Effort Trump discussed Hyperliquid during a White House gathering with crypto leaders on August 19. He said regulators are working on a compliant path for the platform. Trump credited Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig with leading the initiative. He said, “I understand Mike [Selig] is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion.” The meeting included executives from Ripple, Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken, and Nasdaq. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Selig attended. Zhao later said industry policies cannot be limited to individual companies. He wrote, “Many people miss the bigger picture. Policy cannot be applied to only one company/project. What’s good for one is good for the rest of the industry.” Hyperliquid Continues Engagement With US Regulators Hyperliquid has been working with American regulators as it seeks access to the domestic market. The Hyper Foundation finances the Hyperliquid Policy Center, which conducts policy research in Washington, D.C. The center aims to support regulated access to on-chain perpetual contracts in the United States. Current restrictions remain the main obstacle to Hyperliquid’s domestic operations. Perpetual contracts are not technically banned in the country. However, their structure remains incompatible with execution and clearing requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act. Selig discussed a US pathway on the Bankless podcast in June. He said, “We want to create a path to bring these onchain markets into the United States and make sure they comply with some form of regulation.” Regulators have explored changes involving perpetual-style products. In May, the CFTC approved a spot Bitcoin perpetual contract and said other assets would be considered individually. Trump Renews Call for CLARITY Act Passage Trump urged lawmakers to approve the CLARITY Act at the meeting. The legislation has faced repeated delays and setbacks. He described the proposal as “very powerful, structured legislation” and said it could help the United States remain ahead of China and other countries. Trump was asked whether the government plans to purchase Bitcoin soon. He referred the question to the Securities and Exchange Commission for guidance. The post Hyperliquid US Push Wins CZ Support as Trump Backs Legal Market Entry first appeared on Coinfea.
Binance SDNK Contract Surges Above BTC and ETH in Trading Volume
SanDisk (SNDK) perp contract on Binance has surpassed two of the largest crypto assets, Bitcoin and Ether, in trading volume. The TradFi asset SNDK attracted more than $7.38 billion in volume over the past 24 hours. During that period, BTC and ETH saw only $6.11 billion and $4.57 billion, respectively, according to Binance market data. This wasn’t a sudden move, actually. As of August 17, SNDK was the third-biggest perp on Binance, with a 24-hour trading volume of around $3.71 billion. As of then, the stock contract carried $1.73 billion in open interest, 1.86 times SPCX’s $928 million and 3.51 times SKHX’s $493 million. SDNK flips BTC and ETH in trading volume SDNK pushed to a high of $1,693 earlier today before settling at $1,641 at the time of writing. The price has risen over 35% from the $1,213 low in less than two weeks. It appears that interest in stock perpetuals is beginning to overshadow that in major altcoins, at least on Binance, based on trading volume. Of all the top 10 traded perpetual contracts on Binance in the last 24 hours, half were TradFi contracts. Following SNDK are SKHYNIX with $2.48 billion in volume, KORU at $1.84 billion, SOXL at $1.82 billion, and SPCX at $1.35 billion, according to Binance market data at the time of writing. Binance began introducing tokenized stocks in June under the bStock program, which is now the second-largest issuer of tokenized stocks by market cap, per earlier reporting by Cryptopolitan. On August 13, bStock recorded a market cap of up to $610.6 million, or 22.1% of the entire sector, surpassing xStocks at $601.2 million. Ondo Finance led with $951.8 million and a 34.4% share. The post Binance SDNK contract surges above BTC and ETH in trading volume first appeared on Coinfea.
Singapore Pauses $58 Million in Crypto Over Disputed Transfer
The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) has authorized the freezing of about S$75 million ($58 million) in Bitcoin and USD Coin (USDC) in a crypto legal battle that has dragged on for years. The episode began after a customer received coins that were never meant for them because the unnamed exchange was looking at an outdated ledger when it initiated the transfer. Observers are now drawing parallels between this episode and the Bithumb customers who quickly withdrew tokens that were wrongfully sent to them after an employee error. The Singapore court granted an interim proprietary injunction on March 26 in the case listed on its eLitigation service as DVA and another v DVC [2026] SGHC(I) 4. International Judge David Goddard, who sat with High Court Justice Aidan Xu and International Judge Anthony Meagher, delivered the rulings. The claimants appear as DVA and DVB, the customer as DVC. Singapore court suspends transfer amid dispute The Singapore court documents did not name the crypto platform litigating the wrongful transfer case, only going as far as describing the claimant as one of the world’s largest digital-asset trading operations. But the judgment revealed that the customer has used the platform since around 2013, founded his own blockchain in 2016, and set up a cryptocurrency exchange of his own. Apparently, the unnamed exchange discontinued support for its specialized self-custody wallet product in April 2018. However, users were not immediately cut off, as there was a period after the exchange wound down the service during which they could still use a third-party open-source tool to access wallets. As for how the wrongful transfer happened, the exchange’s systems continued to show that the customer named in the lawsuit still had 2,500 Bitcoin and 2,500 Bitcoin Cash in their specialized wallets when, in fact, they had already emptied those accounts in March 2020. The first transfer, per court records, saw 2,500 BTC leave the wallet on March 2, 2020, landing in an account registered on a cryptocurrency exchange that the customer founded. The transfer of 2,500 BCH was initiated six days later. 250 of those coins went to Binance, ruling out the exchange as a potential claimant or defendant in this case. The problem with these withdrawals was that the platform’s internal ledger just never logged them. Hence, the exchange continued to send reminders to the customer to move their tokens for up to four years after the actual withdrawals. A help offer from a relationship manager in June 2024 turned up an automated “remediation tool” in July that ended up with the exchange sending 2,500 BTC and 2,500 BCH of its own holdings to the customer in what appears to be a classic double-spend incident. The platform clawed back the 1,700 BTC and 2,500 BCH in the customer’s wallet when it caught the mistake on January 29 2025. The customer has resisted the refund request on the missing balance, insisting on their claim to the disputed tokens as part of a defense strategy that disagrees with the platform’s version of events. The interim order bars the customer from selling, moving, or reducing the value of about 780 BTC and 816,773 USDC, along with any profits, interest, or assets derived from them. The court also ordered him to disclose where the disputed coins and their proceeds now sit, which matters because later transactions have made some of them hard to trace. The judges did not give the platform everything. They refused, for now, to let it use that disclosure to chase similar freezes in other countries, leaving it to apply again later if needed. The post Singapore pauses $58 million in crypto over disputed transfer first appeared on Coinfea.
AIBC World 2026 Countdown Begins Ahead of Rome’s Frontier Technology Summit
The countdown to AIBC World 2026 has begun, alongside anticipation building ahead of one of Europe’s most significant gatherings dedicated to frontier technology this November. Rome will become the meeting point for leaders across AI, blockchain, fintech, gaming and digital innovation as AIBC World brings together the companies, investors and decision-makers shaping the next stage of the digital economy. Under the theme of connecting frontier technology with real-world applications and digital scalability, AIBC World 2026 will unite AIBC, SiGMA, FX.World and AGS for a major cross-industry gathering focused on collaboration, innovation and business opportunities. The event is set to welcome 1,000 exhibitors, 300 speakers and 30,000 delegates, creating a global platform where technology leaders, entrepreneurs and investors can connect, exchange ideas and explore new opportunities across emerging sectors. AIBC Hall: a dedicated hub for blockchain and AI innovation One of the major highlights of AIBC World 2026 is the introduction of the new AIBC Hall at Fiera Roma. Located in Hall 7, the dedicated space will bring together blockchain and AI service provider (PSP) companies in a single, concentrated environment. Recognised as one of Europe’s largest dedicated blockchain expo spaces, the AIBC Hall will provide attendees with direct access to the infrastructure providers, exchanges, custody solutions driving the evolution of the digital economy. Beyond the exhibition floor, the AIBC Hall will also feature a dedicated AIBC Stage, hosting expert-led panels and discussions covering the latest developments, challenges and opportunities across blockchain, AI and emerging technologies. By combining exhibition, thought leadership, and industry connections in one space, AIBC Hall will create a dedicated environment for companies, innovators, and decision-makers to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and explore the technologies of digital industries. A global platform for innovation, business and collaboration Hosted at Fiera Roma, one of Europe’s largest exhibition venues, AIBC World 2026 will provide the scale and facilities required to welcome thousands of international attendees. Across the exhibition floor and conference stages, visitors can expect perspectives on the latest developments across blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital assets and emerging technologies. The event will bring together established industry players, innovative startups, and technology pioneers to discuss the trends shaping the global digital landscape. Confirmed exhibitors include leading names such as Blockchain.com, Transak, Gate, CertiK, BitGo, Fireblocks, Bybit, BIT.COM, Chainalysis, TradingView and Alchemy Pay. The conference programme will feature influential founders, investors, policymakers and technology executives, including Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Associates; Reeve Collins, Chairman and Co-Founder of STBL & WeFi; Felix Fan, CEO of Trust Wallet; Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos; and Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament. Spotlighting emerging technology startups AIBC World 2026 will continue to support the next generation of innovators through the AIBC Startup Pitch competition. Open to startups working across crypto, blockchain, Web3 and artificial intelligence, the competition provides selected founders with the opportunity to present their solutions to investors, accelerators and industry leaders. Six finalists will advance to the live on-stage competition, showcasing high-potential projects from across the global emerging technology ecosystem. Networking opportunities beyond the exhibition floor Beyond the exhibition and conference programme, AIBC World 2026 will offer exclusive opportunities for attendees to connect with global technology leaders, investors and innovators. From the iGathering Networking Cocktail at Lanterna di Fuksas and the SiGMA Nexus Elite Golf Tour to the AIBC & FX Awards, the event will bring together the community through a series of premium experiences. Held in the historic setting of Rome, the AIBC & FX Awards will celebrate the leading performers across AI, crypto, blockchain, fintech and emerging technology, with winners announced during an exclusive ceremony featuring recognition, connection and a charitable art auction. Join AIBC World 2026 in Rome As AI, blockchain and digital finance continue to reshape industries worldwide, AIBC World 2026 arrives at a defining time for the technology ecosystem. With a dedicated exhibition hall, a strong international speaker lineup, leading exhibitors and a programme designed around innovation and collaboration, the event is set to become a key meeting point for those building, investing in and shaping the future of frontier technology. As Rome prepares to welcome the global technology community this November, now is the time to secure your place at AIBC World 2026 and join the conversations driving the industry forward. Disclaimer: The content within the Sponsored Insights and Press Release category has been provided by our partners and sponsors. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our website. While our team takes care to share valuable and reliable content, we do not take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or validity of any claims made in these sponsored articles and Press Releases. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and due diligence before making any decisions based on the information provided in Sponsored Insights. The post AIBC World 2026 countdown begins ahead of Rome’s frontier technology summit first appeared on Coinfea.
South Korea Continues Market Evolution With Ripple Approval
South Korea has approved the integration of Ripple into the country’s banking system on the same day a media watchdog voted to cut off access to the prediction market Polymarket. Regulators in South Korea have joined a widening crackdown against Polymarket while approving Ripple’s partnership with Jeonbuk Bank. Ripple (XRP) has announced that Jeonbuk Bank will run cross-border business remittances over Ripple Payments, making it the first regional lender in the country to adopt the service. Traditional transfers have to be routed between intermediary banks on the SWIFT network, and this process can make transactions take days to clear. However, Ripple offers a route that settles in seconds to minutes and runs around the clock. The service is aimed at the bank’s importers, exporters, IT startups and online content creators. Jeonbuk is Ripple’s third Korean partnership of 2026, following a tokenized government-bond trial with Kyobo Life Insurance and a custody and wallet deal with internet-only Kbank. South Korea votes to cut off access to Polymarket Despite these partnership announcements in South Korea, XRP slipped under $1 to 98 cents in Asian morning trading on Tuesday, its weakest level since November 2024 and the worst performer among major coins over the day and week. The decline might be due to RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, which now does much of the institutional settlement work. Tokenized real-world assets on the XRP Ledger are worth roughly $1.38 billion, and $845 million of that is RLUSD, representing more than three-fifths of the total value. RLUSD’s circulating supply reached approximately 1.71 billion tokens, with a market capitalization of around $1.71 billion. Ripple minted another 10 million RLUSD on the XRP Ledger on August 17. Despite the drop in XRP’s price, traders are still leaning long, with futures open interest near $2.78 billion. On the same day that the Ripple deal advanced, the Korea Media and Communications Standards Commission, another regulator in South Korea, voted to block domestic access to Polymarket, stating that the platform facilitates gambling under the Criminal Act and the National Sports Promotion Act. The commission explained that because payouts hinge on events users cannot control and winners take the entire pot, the design “fuels gambling psychology.” It also noted the fact that Polymarket sets the markets, runs the settlement rails, and collects trading fees. Polymarket argued it had removed Korean-language services and won-denominated payments and therefore fell outside Korean law, but the regulator rejected that, saying technical features cannot exempt a platform providing “a real illegal gambling environment to domestic users.” Cryptopolitan has been tracking the situation since the Korean police opened the country’s first criminal investigation into local Polymarket bettors after heavy trading around the June 3 national election. The commission began deliberations on July 6 after referrals from the National Police Agency. Beyond South Korea, more than 30 countries, including Italy, Indonesia, and Argentina, have blocked or limited Polymarket. The post South Korea continues market evolution with Ripple approval first appeared on Coinfea.
OpenAI has started rolling out a version of ChatGPT built specifically for Teens aged 13 to 17. The rollout comes after OpenAI has been dragged through the courts over lawsuits tying ChatGPT conversations to teen suicides. OpenAI is rolling out a new version of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, which will automatically place users aged 13 to 17 in the teen version. Users under 13 are barred from ChatGPT entirely. Even if teens try to trick the system by signing up with a fake birthdate, the system will consider signals such as the topics an account discusses, the hours it is active, and how long it has existed, in order to decide if a user is under 18 or not. Users who are still wrongly sorted can get their age verified through Persona, a third-party firm that reviews a government ID or a live selfie and deletes the upload within seven days. OpenAI VP details benefits of new model to teenagers Ann O’Leary, OpenAI’s vice president of global policy, said the goal is to stop exposing teens to material “they shouldn’t be exposed to.” Parents who link an account to a teen user can lock access to the chatbot at chosen times. They also receive alerts in limited high-risk cases, although OpenAI says the controls do not let them read a teen’s messages. OpenAI also said the teen ChatGPT version brings together its existing safety features rather than create new ones. For instance, the age prediction feature has existed since the start of the year, while OpenAI’s parental controls and study mode were launched roughly a year ago. The company first revealed its plans for a teen tier in September 2025. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also made an official inquiry into OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet, xAI, Snap and Character.AI over how they protect minors around that period. The FTC specifically targeted “companion” chatbots following multiple tragic incidents, including the suicide of a 16-year-old who had interacted extensively with ChatGPT. A 2025 study from Common Sense Media found more than 70% of U.S. teens have used AI chatbots for companionship, and half use AI companions regularly. A separate study found that ChatGPT would, when asked, tell 13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, hide an eating disorder, or draft a suicide note. Sam Altman has called emotional overreliance on the technology “a really common thing” among young people. The teen experience will be available for eligible accounts on either free or paid personal plans. From August 18, the teen version will be available for eligible accounts with no restrictions for free accounts. The company is also planning a full rollout in Australia, expected by September 8. The post OpenAI floats new ChatGPT model for teenagers first appeared on Coinfea.
HTX-linked Transfers Raise Wallet Screening and Freeze Concerns
HTX-linked transfers have raised concerns after several wallets received USDT from addresses associated with the exchange. Users fear the transactions could trigger compliance reviews, account freezes, or blocked activity across centralized and decentralized platforms. Multiple wallets reportedly received small transfers linked to HTX, formerly Huobi. A token contract for a new HTX asset interacted with thousands of addresses on BNB Smart Chain. Other users reported receiving USDT from an address identified as HTX48. An HTX ambassador said the exchange did not intentionally distribute assets and described such behavior as inconsistent with normal operations. Justin Sun, TRON founder and HTX owner, had not responded to questions about the reported spam activity. Sun has focused on artificial intelligence projects, including bonus tokens and access to a new model. HTX Transactions Prompt Compliance Concerns The activity has been described as compliance poisoning rather than a traditional dust attack. Standard dust attacks often attempt to confuse users into sending funds to incorrect addresses. Exchanges in the European Union and other regions increasingly screen wallets and trace links to sanctioned entities. Binance has not confirmed whether it will specifically screen dust transfers. However, users remain concerned that interaction with HTX-linked addresses could trigger checks. Some users said traders and crypto influencers may be particularly exposed to such reviews. Several key opinion leaders and industry participants have reported exchange accounts being frozen after receiving the transfers during recent reported activity. Dusting History Shows Different Enforcement Outcomes Similar incidents occurred after the United States sanctioned Tornado Cash. In one case, a user spent $50,000 sending dust transactions to multiple addresses connected with prominent individuals. Those transfers did not result in all affected wallets or exchange accounts being banned. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control later determined that passive receipt of immaterial funds did not make recipients participants in sanctioned activity. Recent HTX-linked transfers are larger than typical dust transactions, reaching as much as 12 USDT. The reported activity also involves genuine tokens rather than newly created or counterfeit assets. Wallet Screening Practices Vary Across Platforms Compliance procedures differ among exchanges and brokerage platforms. Binance has applied strict controls in some cases, including freezing accounts after suspicious transactions. Other platforms may flag incoming transfers while allowing users to move the assets back to self-custodial wallets. The source states that wallets withdrawing from HTX after May 26 are considered sanctioned. It also says Hyperliquid and some decentralized finance protocols have started blacklisting related addresses. HTX was included in a wider sanctions-related exchange crackdown. Binance froze transactions involving HTX, Exmo, and 14 other exchanges. Critics argue such measures may burden legitimate users while diverting resources from investigations into actual on-chain crime. The post HTX-linked Transfers Raise Wallet Screening and Freeze Concerns first appeared on Coinfea.
Uniswap Sees AMMs Driving Growth Across $34.55 Billion Tokenized Markets
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams says automated market makers could play a central role as tokenization reshapes markets. His argument comes as demand grows for always-on infrastructure and more assets move onto blockchain-based trading systems. Adams believes blockchains separate execution, custody, and settlement into distinct layers, unlike traditional market makers that combine those functions. He argues this structure can reduce barriers by avoiding the need for firms to manage every part of trading. Why Uniswap Sees AMMs Suited to Tokenized Assets Adams says AMMs are particularly effective for closely related asset pairs, where passive liquidity can face lower inventory risk. He also says these markets can offer costs that remain competitive with large professional trading desks. His view is that continued migration of assets onchain will reorganize trading around related pairs and a limited number of cross-chain routes. Adams also expects this shift to widen market access as tokenized markets develop. He has further suggested that passive AMM strategies could eventually operate similarly to index funds. The comments extend his defense of automated market makers in blockchain-based finance. In January, Adams rejected criticism that liquidity providers are structurally undercompensated in AMMs. He pointed to growth in Uniswap pools and argued that AMM liquidity can be reused as collateral more easily than alternatives. Tokenized Market Issuance Reaches $34.55 Billion The latest comments arrive as tokenized real-world asset activity continues to expand. DeFiLlama data cited by Cryptopolitan showed RWA deposits rising from $650.88 million to about $3.98 billion within twelve months. That increase represents roughly sixfold growth over the period. Total tokenized issuance across the sector has reached $34.55 billion, according to figures cited in the report. Uniswap has also expanded its involvement in tokenized equities. As of August 13, the protocol supported more than 190 Robinhood stock tokens across its protocol, applications, and API. One tokenized SPY trading pair recorded $33 million in volume over twelve days. The activity reflects Uniswap’s effort to participate in global, self-custodial, round-the-clock tokenized markets. Uniswap Expands Tools for Regulated Token Issuers In July, Uniswap introduced Permissioned Pools through a v4 hook designed for regulated tokenized markets. The feature limits trading access to wallets approved by the relevant issuer. Tokenization companies Securitize, Superstate, and Dowgo were named as launch partners. The initiative allows issuers to use Uniswap infrastructure while maintaining approved-wallet trading restrictions. Despite the broader tokenization push, UNI did not mirror the sector’s growth. CoinMarketCap listed UNI near $3.25 on the day of Adams’ post, with a market capitalization of about $2.03 billion. That valuation remained below levels recorded earlier in the year, even as Uniswap increased its participation in tokenized assets and related trading infrastructure. The post Uniswap Sees AMMs Driving Growth Across $34.55 Billion Tokenized Markets first appeared on Coinfea.
Pando Rings Oracle Exploiter Resurfaces and Sends ETH to Tornado Cash
Pando Rings oracle exploiter activity returned on August 18 after the wallet remained inactive for two months. The address linked to the 2022 hack swapped 3 million DAI for about 1,570 ETH through CoW Protocol. Blockchain tracker Onchain Lens reported that roughly 800 ETH, valued near $1.52 million, then moved to Tornado Cash across eight transactions. The renewed activity follows years of intermittent movement from funds connected to the exploit. It came three days after Pando announced that its protocol would be sunset and its DeFi products placed into maintenance mode under Mixin oversight. Pando Rings Hack Began With Oracle Manipulation The original attack occurred on November 5, 2022, when the exploiter manipulated the price of the sBTC-WBTC liquidity provider token on 4swap. The distorted oracle price was used in an effort to withdraw about $70 million in crypto. Before the team intervened, around $21.9 million in ETH, EOS, and BTC had already left two Mixin wallets controlled by the attacker. Pando later worked with Mixin Network and cybersecurity company SlowMist to freeze remaining assets. Those frozen holdings included 2,022,662 EOS, then worth about $2.36 million, alongside other tokens valued above $50 million. Pando suspended Pando Rings, 4swap, Pando Leaf, and Pando Lake while the oracle issue was addressed and said customers would be reimbursed. Exploiter Converts DAI Into Ether The same address has resurfaced periodically since the hack. Lookonchain reported on June 6 that the wallet used 10 million DAI to purchase 6,243 ETH at an average price of $1,602. The tracker commented that “even the hacker is buying the $ETH dip.” This week’s transaction again converted stablecoins into Ether, but part of the ETH was subsequently transferred through Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash remains watched because it can make transaction links harder to follow. However, mixer activity can still draw attention from blockchain investigators monitoring known exploit addresses and fund movements. PANDO RINGS EXPLOITER MOVES AFTER 2 MONTHS The Pando Rings exploiter became active again after two months, swapping 3M $DAI for 1.57K $ETH (~$3M) via CoW Protocol. It has since sent 800 $ETH (~$1.52M) to Tornado Cash across eight transactions. Pando Rings was exploited for… pic.twitter.com/r0rbP2zyjB — Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) August 18, 2026 Pando Winds Down While Old Funds Move Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the US Treasury in August 2022. It was removed from the sanctions list on March 21, 2025, after a federal appeals court ruled that immutable smart contracts could not be treated as property under sanctions law. Pando announced on August 15 that it was discontinuing the protocol and moving its DeFi products into maintenance mode. Pando Rings now supports only loan repayments and collateral withdrawals. Immunefi data shows oracle-related ecosystem attacks have become less common. Such incidents fell from nearly 19% of DeFi loss cases in 2022 to under 1% in 2025. The latest transactions show that funds tied to older exploits can remain inactive for years before moving again. The post Pando Rings Oracle Exploiter Resurfaces and Sends ETH to Tornado Cash first appeared on Coinfea.
XAI Minnesota Law Fight Escalates Over AI Sexual Images
xAI challenges Minnesota’s HF 1606, restricting AI tools generating sexual images of identifiable people. Attorney General Keith Ellison urged a federal judge Friday to reject xAI’s effort, calling Grok Imagine technology, not protected speech. The hearing is Wednesday. Ellison said xAI is unlikely to win its constitutional claim or show irreparable harm. He wrote, “With Grok Imagine, X.AI has created an unparalleled marketplace for digital sexual violence, and the state would be defenseless from the start unless it could direct its laws at the technology itself.” HF 1606 Targets AI Providers Directly HF 1606 bars companies from enabling realistic images showing intimate parts absent from an identifiable person’s original photograph, or producing them. Violations can reach $500,000 per image, and depicted people may sue. Unlike many deepfake laws, including the federal Take It Down Act, Minnesota requires neither knowledge nor intent. Texas contacted operators in 2025 when owners knew consent was absent or ignored takedown notices. The House passed HF 1606 by 132 to 1 and the Senate 65 to 0 after reports that a man created sexual images of over 80 women he knew. Signed in April, it took effect August 1. xAI sued July 27 and sought a temporary restraining order July 29. Judge Donovan Frank denied it July 31, saying the nearly three-month delay and three-day timing showed “harm is not immediate.” xAI Argues Law Reaches Consensual Content xAI accepts Minnesota’s interest in preventing nonconsensual imagery but says the statute goes further. It says Minnesota borrowed an intimate-part definition from bodily-contact crimes covering breasts and inner thighs, potentially reaching swimsuits and satire. Page 19 cites a May 1 AI image Trump shared on Truth Social showing JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum, an unidentified woman, and the men shirtless in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as a repair-cost joke. xAI says newly depicted breasts could make it unlawful. “Even if subjects gave their consent, generated the images themselves or never shared them, there is no safe harbor for good-faith efforts by the provider of general-purpose AI creative tools,” xAI said. It calculated ten violations could cost $5 million and 100,000 violations $50 billion. Grok Abuse Scale Draws Wider Scrutiny xAI’s July filing showed 52,222 suspensions and 73,604 reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, producing at least 244 arrests in 2026. The Center for Countering Digital Hate estimated Grok created about 3 million sexually explicit images from December 29 to January 8 after Musk endorsed editing features, including about 23,000 appearing to depict children. California opened an investigation January 14 and issued a cease-and-desist two days later. Thirty-five attorneys general issued a joint demand January 23. Ellison cited a class action by five children and federal suits from two Arkansas families. The European Commission opened an investigation January 27, while Malaysia and Indonesia banned the chatbot. The post xAI Minnesota Law Fight Escalates Over AI Sexual Images first appeared on Coinfea.
ByteDance Inks First AI Copyright Deal With Hollywood’s MPA
ByteDance and the Motion Picture Association have signed a memorandum of understanding to build copyright guardrails into the company’s Seedance and Seedream AI generators, the first deal of its kind between Hollywood’s main studio lobby and an AI firm, according to the Los Angeles Times. The truce ends a dispute that broke out approximately six months ago. The controversy dates back to a clip created purely by AI of Tom Cruise trading blows with Brad Pitt, built with Seedance, and then spreading widely all over the internet. On February 20, MPA global general counsel Karyn Temple wrote to ByteDance general counsel John Rogovin, the Los Angeles Times reported, arguing that Seedance 2.0 had been trained on protected material and was turning out unauthorized clips of characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants alongside a recreated scene from “Stranger Things.” ByteDance ends feud with MPA with copyright deal Variety reported that the trade group accused ByteDance of “disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs” on a supposedly “massive scale.” Disney and other studios also objected to tools that could reproduce Marvel and Star Wars figures without permission, The News reported. The MOU then announced on Monday that it has created a structure covering ByteDance’s generative products, reaching users through TikTok, its separate U.S. TikTok app, CapCut, and Dreamina. The MPA did not release the details of the specific barriers and deterrents in the deal to the public, the Los Angeles Times reported. Both companies have, however, pointed to newer releases as evidence that these safeguards have been initiated, with ByteDance claiming both Seedance 2.5 and Seedream 5.0 Pro, shipped last month, carry stronger IP protections. “Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry,” MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin said in a statement. He also added that the deal “reflects our shared determination to continue our work together to further fortify those guardrails.” ByteDance general counsel John Rogovin said the company “respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world” and said the MOU was “an important framework for continued collaboration as the technology evolves.” ByteDance is not the first AI company the MPA has pressured into concessions on its AI product. The association had initially gone after OpenAI’s Sora before the firm added limits, according to Variety, with OpenAI eventually shutting Sora down earlier this year after a similar wave of unauthorized character videos. However, instead of fully retreating and shutting down its products, ByteDance is taking a different path, pouring more funds into Seedance, which is reportedly one of the most advanced video models available, alongside Google’s offerings. The Los Angeles Times reported that Seedance has gained ground with independent filmmakers who find it cheaper than rival tools, a development that gives ByteDance a commercial reason to keep the studios afloat instead of completely disengaging from the market. The post ByteDance inks first AI copyright deal with Hollywood’s MPA first appeared on Coinfea.
Unitree Unveils Superman Robot, Beats Usain Bolt’s Speed Days Before IPO
Unitree Robotics revealed its ‘Superman’ humanoid robot on Monday, with a reported top running speed of 12.66 meters per second and a two-meter standing jump, beating every human on record. The reveal comes only two days before Unitree starts publicly trading in Shanghai, after one of the most oversubscribed tech listings the market has seen. Superman cleared a two-meter standing high jump on legs measuring 0.85 meters, and hit 12.66 m/s, which is equal to 45.6 km/h in speed. The human marks the robot beat for the respective actions are a 1.8-meter standing jump and a 12.4 m/s sprint. Usain Bolt reached a max speed of 12.42 m/s during his 2009 world-record race, meaning the ‘Superman” robot is faster than the world’s fastest man ever managed, if Unitree’s figures hold. Unitree Robotics’ Superman robot hits record top speed The robotics company has, however, not released any independent verification for these figures, with the numbers all coming from a company video and not an independently measured event. Unitree also stated that its engineers built the robot in a little over three months, and that the humanoid robot’s current hardware leaves plenty of room for improvement. The company’s founder, Wang Xingxing, hinted at the possibility back in March at the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum. He predicted that humanoid machines would break human sprint limits by mid-2026, referring to cheaper parts and better algorithms as the reason for such a possibility. The robotics company had introduced the As2W some weeks before, a wheeled quadruped robot built for cargo. The As2W weighs 25 kilograms, can carry a recorded max load of 180 kilograms, and can move a cargo of up to 16 kilograms continuously. Unitree priced its coming IPO listing at 150.8 yuan and raised about 6.1 billion yuan, almost $905 million, in a deal that places the company’s valuation at about $9 billion. The IPO was oversubscribed by over 5000 times, and the company raked in 45% more than the 4.2 billion yuan it had initially targeted. Real revenue also adds to the valuation, as sales hit 1.7 billion yuan last year, more than four times the 2024 figure, with net profit of 591 million yuan. Unitree sold over 5,500 humanoid units across all its G1, H1, and R1 units in 2025, with most of these going to research labs and entertainment buyers instead of factories and manufacturers. The post Unitree unveils Superman robot, beats Usain Bolt’s speed days before IPO first appeared on Coinfea.
Donald Trump to Assemble Crypto CEOs, Set to Discuss Regulations
United States President Donald Trump is set to host crypto companies and prediction market businesses at the White House on Wednesday for a private conversation about regulation, with several major industry names expected in the room. President Donald Trump is expected to speak at the gathering, and CFTC Chair Mike Selig is also scheduled to address those attending. The companies expected to take part include Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi, Paradigm, and the Digital Chamber. Paradigm is one of Kalshi’s investors. Patrick Witt, who leads Trump’s presidential council of advisers on digital assets, is also expected to attend. The White House meeting will take place one day before the CFTC holds its first gathering of its newly created 35-member Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday. Earlier, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an agency within the Treasury Department, granted conditional preliminary approval to a national trust bank application linked to World Liberty Financial, the crypto business launched with Trump and members of his family. Donald Trump to host crypto execs at the White House World Liberty Trust Company applied for the license in January. The company would get permission to issue the USD1 stablecoin on its own and also to keep the dollars backing the token. At present, BitGo is doing this job for World Liberty Trust Company. World Liberty described the OCC approval as a “milestone” in its plans to establish the bank. Zach Witkoff is the president and chairman of World Liberty Trust. “A national trust bank brings USD1 issuance, custody, and reserve management together under OCC supervision, examined on the same standards that have governed banks for generations. We welcome continuous scrutiny from Federal regulators for many years to come,” he said. World Liberty still has to maintain at least $20 million in capital, bring in a qualified employee to manage internal auditing, and notify the OCC before making any major changes to the business plan it submitted. Ripple and Circle Internet Group have been granted provisional OCC approvals for a national trust bank charter through Comptroller Jonathan Gould, who was appointed as the Comptroller by Trump just last year. It also raised issues related to the investors of the crypto firm. According to the OCC, foreign investors associated with the parent company would not necessarily be considered as the owners having control over the bank. Some of the foreign investors had agreed to remain passive and would not seek to control the decision-making process of the bank. Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son, was among those who signed one of the agreements. He did so while serving as president of an investment entity connected to the Trump family. Zach is the son of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special diplomatic envoy. The Witkoff family helped launch World Liberty Financial with Trump and his three sons in late 2024, and Zach currently serves as the company’s CEO. Robert Witkoff, Steve’s brother and a former insurance company executive, is expected to serve as a director of World Liberty Trust. Scott Alper, who is president of the Witkoff family’s real estate business, has also been put forward as a proposed director. Lawmakers from the Democratic Party have stated that there would be a conflict of interest if a bank owned by the family members of the president was approved. During a congressional hearing in February, they pressured Jonathan to provide full and unredacted copies of World Liberty’s application for lawmakers to see in private. The publicly available copy lacked certain details on the capital structure and operations of the company. The post Donald Trump to assemble crypto CEOs, set to discuss regulations first appeared on Coinfea.
Apple Deploys Spyware Alerts on IPhone Lock Screen in Latest Warnings
Apple is now alerting people it believes are targets of spyware right on the Lock Screen of their iPhone. This is important for journalists, activists, and officials who are frequently impacted by these attacks. It places a high-stakes alert right where they cannot overlook it. The latest round of notifications on Thursday reached people in 110 countries. Apple has until now used email and a banner after signing into an Apple Account to alert users to threats. Now, an “Apple Threat Notification” appears on the Lock Screen and inside Settings. This feature works in addition to the older email and account-page alerts. The message informs the user that Apple “detected a mercenary spyware attack targeted at your iPhone. There are actions you can take now to help protect your data and device.” Apple changed the experience so users can reach guidance on what to do next more quickly. Researcher says new Apple warnings are harder to miss Researcher Pieter Arntz stated that a warning on the Lock Screen is much harder to miss than one buried in an inbox. He wrote, “The new on-device alert is meant to make a high-risk warning harder to overlook and complements notifications by email and through the user’s Apple Account page.” Apple refers to these notifications as “high-confidence alerts that a user has been individually targeted by a mercenary spyware attack, and should be taken very seriously.” These are campaigns that cost millions of dollars, burn fast once they are discovered, and are aimed at a tiny group of people. Apple’s support documentation associates the attacks with state actors and the private companies that create surveillance tools for them, with Pegasus from Israel’s NSO Group as one example. The usual targets are journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats. Apple only uses its internal threat intelligence and won’t say what generates a specific alert, as that would help attackers avoid detection. The company says it has notified people in 150+ countries since the program began in 2021. Apple’s latest round of threat notifications, which was on Thursday, reached 110 countries. Apple’s advice to anyone who receives a notification is to enable Lockdown Mode, which removes features that attackers could exploit. The company says it hasn’t yet seen a case of a device running Lockdown Mode being successfully hacked. It also directs recipients to the Digital Security Helpline run by the nonprofit Access Now, which is available 24/7. A genuine warning is valuable bait, so recipients should check if any alert is legitimate by signing in to account.apple.com, where Apple says a real threat notification shows up clearly at the top of the page. Apple says its real notifications never ask anyone to click on a link, install something, or give a password or verification code. The post Apple deploys spyware alerts on iPhone lock screen in latest warnings first appeared on Coinfea.
Bitcoin Economic Energy Thesis Frames Saylor’s View of Money
Bitcoin’s economic energy is central to Michael Saylor’s latest argument about money, scarcity, and long-term value preservation. The Strategy chairman published an essay on August 15 outlining why he believes Bitcoin conserves economic value better than gold or fiat currencies. Written with Robert Breedlove and titled “What Is Money?”, the essay describes money as technology for storing labor’s value. It also explains how that value can move across time and distance. Saylor refers to this stored value as “economic energy” and asks how efficiently monetary systems preserve it. How Saylor Defines Economic Energy Saylor argues that sound money should preserve the value created through work without suffering significant “monetary entropy.” He uses that term to describe the erosion of value as money moves through time or across distance. The essay credits gold for scarcity and durability, but highlights several weaknesses. Gold is heavy, expensive to transport, costly to secure, and difficult to audit. Once integrated into financial systems, it also depends heavily on custodians. Government-issued currencies solve many portability problems associated with gold. However, their supply and operating rules remain controlled by governments and central banks. Why Saylor Favors Bitcoin The essay describes Bitcoin as digital monetary energy with no physical mass and no central issuer. Its total supply is capped at 21 million coins, a feature central to Saylor’s argument about scarcity. Saylor’s position is that Bitcoin loses less economic energy than competing monetary systems. His broader case focuses on how effectively an asset can preserve purchasing power while remaining transferable across long distances. The essay arrived during a wider debate about whether advanced artificial intelligence could eventually reduce the importance of money. Elon Musk has argued that AI-driven abundance could make money less relevant through what he calls a universal high income. Saylor Challenges Musk’s Money Outlook Saylor rejected that view during a Diary of a CEO interview with host Steven Bartlett published earlier this month. He argued that scarcity would continue shaping human behavior even in a more abundant economy. Saylor told Bartlett that people would keep pursuing scarce goods linked to status because “we’re status-oriented animals.” His argument suggests that abundance in ordinary goods would not remove competition for limited assets. Strategy currently holds 840,447 BTC, giving it the largest disclosed corporate Bitcoin position. The company has also sold Bitcoin in recent months. Strategy offloaded 1,690 BTC for about $108.6 million in early August to repurchase STRC preferred shares. Chief Executive Phong Le has said the company expects to resume Bitcoin purchases before year-end. The essay therefore places Bitcoin within Saylor’s broader monetary framework, centered on scarcity, portability, durability, and resistance to value erosion. The post Bitcoin Economic Energy Thesis Frames Saylor’s View of Money first appeared on Coinfea.
DeFiLlama Founder Says Fake App Hack Forced Apple to Act
DeFiLlama founder 0xngmi said he deliberately allowed a fraudulent App Store application to drain cryptocurrency from a funded wallet. The move created evidence that the impersonating application was stealing funds from users. Apple removed the fake application days after receiving that evidence, according to 0xngmi. The removal followed months of complaints submitted through Apple’s abuse and trademark reporting channels. The pseudonymous founder shared details of the incident on X on August 15, 2026. He said reports identified trademark violations and impersonation, but the listing remained available. DeFiLlama Founder Demonstrates Fake App Theft 0xngmi said he downloaded the fraudulent DeFiLlama application and placed a small amount of cryptocurrency inside a wallet. He then allowed the application to access the wallet and drain those funds. After documenting the theft, he submitted the result to Apple as evidence of fraud. The application was removed from the App Store within days of that report. “I know it’s insane you have to do this to save users from obviously fake apps,” 0xngmi wrote. He said he shared the experience so other cryptocurrency teams “don’t waste time like us.” According to 0xngmi, the fraudulent application was a basic DeFiLlama copy designed to request users’ seed phrases. Those recovery words provide control over cryptocurrency wallets and their assets. Fake Crypto Apps Used Defunct Companies for Verification 0xngmi said the operators also created impersonating applications targeting other cryptocurrency brands. He claimed they passed Apple’s identity checks by registering their applications through defunct companies. For the DeFiLlama impersonation, the operators allegedly completed verification using a shoe-shine company. The business had been incorporated around 40 years earlier and was no longer operating. DeFiLlama delayed the launch of its legitimate application for months while fake versions remained available. The team wanted every copy removed before releasing its app to reduce accidental downloads. DeFiLlama also operates LlamaSearch, a directory of vetted cryptocurrency domains. The service addresses risks when manipulated search results or app listings direct users toward fraudulent websites. Similar Crypto Impersonation Scams Hit Other Platforms The incident follows other cryptocurrency impersonation schemes involving advertising and application platforms. On August 14, a Hyperliquid trader lost about $550,000 in USDC after following a Google advertisement. The advertisement directed the trader to a cloned Hyperliquid exchange. In May 2026, fake Google advertisements targeting Uniswap users resulted in losses exceeding $400,000. Around 146 ETH from those Uniswap incidents reached two attacker addresses. Cryptopolitan also reported a fraudulent Hyperliquid application appearing on the Google Play Store in November 2025. The DeFiLlama case highlights the unusual method 0xngmi used after months of unsuccessful complaints. By documenting an actual wallet drain, he provided evidence that prompted Apple’s removal. The post DeFiLlama Founder Says Fake App Hack Forced Apple to Act first appeared on Coinfea.
Ethereum Issuance Debate Frames Network As a Minimal Nation-State
Ethereum issuance has been compared with the finances of a minimal nation-state by Grayscale research head Zach Pandl. In an X post labeled a “Quasi brainstorm on $ETH issuance,” Pandl described Ethereum as a system funding security through newly created ETH instead of taxation. Pandl said Ethereum “is akin to a minimal nation-state” with one primary responsibility: protecting property rights and enabling value exchange. He added that “Ethereum does not raise taxes to fund government services,” drawing attention to how network security is financed. Ethereum Issuance Links Security With Money Creation Under Pandl’s framework, Ethereum covers its core security costs through money creation. Economists describe the revenue earned by a currency issuer from creating money as seigniorage. Stakers provide the service of protecting Ethereum’s property rights and receive newly issued ETH as compensation. This structure effectively connects fiscal and monetary policy because securing the network also expands the supply of ETH. The arrangement differs from Bitcoin’s fixed supply model. Bitcoin has a capped maximum supply, while ETH issuance can change depending on network conditions and the amount of ETH being staked. That variable issuance makes Ether’s scarcity less straightforward for people evaluating the asset as a store of value. Pandl’s comparison therefore focuses attention on issuance as both a security mechanism and a source of network funding. Ethereum Funding Debate Focuses on Validator Rewards The thought experiment arrives during an ongoing debate about how Ethereum should finance core development. Validators collectively receive roughly 700,000 ETH annually in staking rewards, while the ecosystem reportedly faces limited cash for paying core developers. Former Ethereum Foundation coordinator Trent Van Epps said in June that maintaining the network’s client teams costs about $30 million each year. He warned about risks from lacking a clear funding source while the Ethereum Foundation reduces spending. One proposed approach would redirect part of the rewards currently paid to validators toward development costs. Supporters see validator rewards as a potential source for addressing the funding shortfall. Critics argue that creating another distribution mechanism would be unnecessary if validators are prepared to accept lower yields. Under that approach, Ethereum could simply reduce issuance rather than redirecting newly created ETH through another layer. Ethereum Issuance Becomes Central to Treasury Questions Pandl’s nation-state analogy does not propose a direct solution to Ethereum’s developer funding problem. Instead, it frames ETH issuance as the network’s effective treasury and links security spending directly with monetary expansion. The comparison underscores why debates over validator compensation, developer funding, and ETH supply are closely connected. Within Pandl’s framework, arguments about funding ultimately become arguments over how large Ethereum’s issuance-based treasury should be over the longer term. The post Ethereum Issuance Debate Frames Network as a Minimal Nation-State first appeared on Coinfea.