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Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, is launching his own cryptocurrency built directly around the controversial laptop that became a flashpoint of the 2020 presidential election.
The token, called $LAPTOP, is scheduled to debut September 9 on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain network created by Coinbase Global, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.
How the Announcement Unfolded
The Journal first reported the launch Monday morning. Shortly afterward, Biden confirmed the news himself, posting “$LAPTOP” alongside a September 9 launch date on X, accompanied by a compilation video featuring news outlets and Trump administration officials referencing the laptop saga over the years. The announcement transforms one of the most politically weaponized personal scandals of the past decade into a tradeable digital asset.
The Laptop’s Origin Story
The laptop at the center of the controversy was dropped off at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, in April 2019. The shop’s owner later provided its contents to the FBI, which formally seized the device roughly five months later. The laptop reportedly contained emails, financial documents, and business records, along with explicit personal photos and images appearing to show Biden using drugs. The device and its contents became a major media flashpoint in conservative-leaning outlets in the run-up to the 2020 election, fueling extensive political commentary and investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Biden’s legal team has previously stated that the files were manipulated, disputing the authenticity of some material that circulated publicly. Biden himself has continued discussing the episode candidly on social media, Substack, and various podcast appearances in recent months. In a June post on X, he wrote: “What they found was evidence of a man who suffered for a period of time from a severe addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol,” adding that federal prosecutors ultimately found no evidence of corruption or criminal activity beyond matters related to his drug use.
Biden’s Crypto Advocacy
The memecoin launch follows a period of increasingly vocal public support for digital assets from Biden. He has previously argued on X that Congress needs “to truly understand the value and potential utility of cryptocurrency,” and separately described “decentralized digital currency” as “the inevitable future” — positioning himself, at least rhetorically, as a crypto advocate ahead of his own token launch.
Token Structure and Distribution
According to details of the launch, $LAPTOP will have a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The distribution plan allocates 30% to the project’s founders, subject to a vesting schedule restricting when those tokens can be sold, while another 20% will be distributed via airdrops to selected cryptocurrency holders and newsletter or platform subscribers. The project has also outlined plans to burn — permanently remove from circulation — up to 30% of the total token supply if specific political or market-related milestones are met, though the precise nature of those milestones has not been fully detailed publicly.
Notably, Pump.fun, a popular Solana-based token launch platform, initially published a post referencing the $LAPTOP launch before subsequently deleting it — a detail that has fueled speculation among crypto observers about the platform’s level of involvement or its decision to distance itself from the project.
Part of a Broader Trend of Political Memecoins
Biden’s launch places him within a growing category of politically branded cryptocurrencies that has gained significant traction since early 2025, most notably the $TRUMP token. That coin, built on the Solana blockchain, launched in January 2025 just ahead of Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, announced via Truth Social and X on January 17-18, 2025. Its branding drew directly on imagery from the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, featuring the president with a raised fist alongside the phrase “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.”
Of the token’s 1 billion total supply, 200 million coins were released publicly in the initial offering, while Trump-affiliated companies retained the remaining 800 million. First Lady Melania Trump subsequently launched a companion token of her own. $TRUMP’s price trajectory has been extremely volatile: the token peaked between $73 and $75 shortly after its January 2025 launch, before falling to an all-time low of $1.37 on August 13, 2026. As of recent trading, the token sits around $2.27 — still down sharply from its early highs, though well above its 2026 low point.
The $TRUMP token has drawn sustained criticism from ethics experts and political observers, who argue that a sitting president profiting from a personally branded cryptocurrency creates a severe conflict of interest, potentially allowing wealthy individuals and foreign entities to purchase direct financial access to the presidency through token purchases.
Why This Launch Matters
Biden’s decision to launch $LAPTOP represents an unusual reversal: rather than distancing himself from a scandal that dogged both his father’s presidency and his own public image, Biden appears to be directly monetizing it, leaning into the very controversy that critics used against him for years.
The move mirrors a broader pattern in which polarizing political figures and moments — regardless of which side of the political spectrum they originate from — have increasingly been repackaged as speculative crypto assets aimed at supporters, critics, and speculators alike who want exposure to the underlying cultural moment rather than any underlying business or utility.
What Comes Next
With the token set to launch September 9 on Base, market attention will likely focus on early trading volume, initial price action, and whether $LAPTOP follows a trajectory similar to $TRUMP’s extreme early volatility. Given the polarizing nature of the underlying reference and Hunter Biden’s own public profile, the launch is likely to generate significant media attention and mixed reactions from both crypto traders and political commentators, regardless of how the token ultimately performs in the market.

Hunter Biden, le fils de l’ancien président Joe Biden, lance sa propre cryptomonnaie construite directement autour du controversé ordinateur portable devenu un point de bascule de l’élection présidentielle américaine de 2020.
Le jeton, appelé $LAPTOP, doit faire ses débuts le 9 septembre sur Base, le réseau blockchain de couche 2 de l’Ethereum créé par Coinbase Global, selon des informations rapportées par le Wall Street Journal, citant des personnes au courant du dossier.
Comment l’annonce s’est déroulée
Le Journal a d’abord annoncé le lancement lundi matin. Peu après, Biden a confirmé la nouvelle lui-même, en publiant « $LAPTOP » avec une date de lancement du 9 septembre sur X, accompagné d’une vidéo récapitulative mettant en scène des médias et des responsables de l’administration Trump faisant référence à l’affaire du laptop au fil des ans. L’annonce transforme l’un des scandales personnels les plus politisés de la dernière décennie en un actif numérique échangeable.

Pitch Fest Bali 2026 Wraps: ObsessionDB Wins, 13 Startups Pitch to a Room of Leading VCs
DeltaV-presented, invite-only Web3 demo day drew a VC panel spanning SC Ventures, TBV, Ape Ventures, Yellow, Cicada, and Kosmos Ventures, with $100K+ in prizes, credits, and support on the line. Held August 19 in Jimbaran, Bali, the day before Coinfest Asia.
BALI, INDONESIA. [ Release Date ]. Luvon Labs and SpedaxAI wrapped Pitch Fest Bali 2026 on August 19, an invite-only Web3 demo day presented by DeltaV and held at Dewata Padel in Jimbaran, the day before Coinfest Asia. Thirteen curated startups pitched live to a panel of leading venture investors, competing for a prize pool of more than $100,000 in prizes, credits, and support.
The room delivered on what it promised. Founders, funds, and exchanges spent the day in a curated space built for real conversations instead of conference-floor noise, and the read since has been consistent: attendees and partners have called it one of the most ROI-driven side events of Coinfest Asia week.
ObsessionDB Takes the Win
After thirteen live pitches, ObsessionDB took first place, and in a fitting turn, one of the event’s own infrastructure sponsors backed the room, then won it. ObsessionDB is fully managed ClickHouse, the same engine, queries, and tools teams already know, delivering sub-second queries at any scale without any infrastructure to run themselves.
Provvypay placed second. The startup runs a unified payment infrastructure connecting Stripe and Hedera with automated accounting, giving businesses a real-time view of their commercial position before it hits the books.
MOI placed third. MOI is building the participant layer for AI agents, giving every human or agent persistent, on-chain, portable identity and authority in computation, so agents can be monitored, scoped, and revoked in real time.
A Judging Panel That Showed Up
Founders pitched to a panel that included Alexis Sirkia (Co-Founder and Captain, Yellow), Tobias Bauer (Co-Founder and General Partner, TBV), Maxim Moris (Co-Founder and CEO, Cicada), Sheridan Hammond (Founder, Kosmos Ventures), Daria Chernozub (Global Adoption Head and SEA Lead, Dash), Alex Toh (Lead, Funds Management, SC Ventures by Standard Chartered), and Ardi Wicaksono (Head of Blockchain and Web3 Investment, Hilton Tech Fund). Trive Digital, Spores Network, and CoinSwitch Ventures were also in the room as attending VCs.
Partners Behind the Day
Pitch Fest Bali 2026 was presented by DeltaV as title sponsor, with Golden Grid, ObsessionDB, Kenomic, hashlock, [H.E.], and humaneffort on board as sponsors. BrandPR served as PR partner, and Dewata Padel hosted the day as venue partner. WEEX joined as a notable attending exchange, and the event was amplified by more than 50 media and community partners across the region.
EV-GO also joined as a partner. EV-GO is the first real-world utility project backed by EV-READY and ID Opentech, Indonesia’s largest EV group, with more than 1 million vehicle-to-EV conversion quotas already secured and a battery infrastructure build-out worth over $1 billion.
Backerstage Capital came on as an event partner. The team runs closed, founder-and-investor events across crypto, ten so far across six countries, with their next stop being the Founder x VC Summit in Singapore this October during Token2049 week.
In Their Words
“The pitches were the easy part,” said Anubhav Tomar, Co-Founder of Luvon Labs. “What made the day work was the room itself. Watching one of our own sponsors pitch their way to the win says everything about what we built here.”
What’s Next
Bali is the first stop in a planned series of curated demo days across major global crypto hubs, with editions targeted for Singapore, Mumbai, and London. Partners who came in early on Bali get a head start on a platform built to grow across several markets.
About Luvon Labs
Luvon Labs is a full-stack venture partner for Web3 founders, working end-to-end from build to raise. The studio ships the entire stack, brand and UX, smart contracts in Solidity and Rust, AI agents, mobile apps, and the infrastructure that keeps products live and scaling, then stays in the room through go-to-market and fundraising, backed by a global investor network built over years in the ecosystem. To date, Luvon Labs has shipped 50+ products for 30+ clients across 15+ countries, spanning BNB Chain, EVM, and Solana. Guided by its philosophy, Build With Intent, Luvon treats every team it works with as a long-term relationship, not a one-off engagement. More at luvonlabs.com.
About SpedaxAI
SpedaxAI is a no-code AI creation studio that lets businesses and creators build, deploy, and monetize autonomous AI agents in minutes. It combines enterprise-grade AI models with Web3 infrastructure, so users can embed custom agents across platforms or mint them as ownable, royalty-earning digital assets. More at spedaxai.com.
About BrandPR
BrandPR is a specialized PR and marketing agency partnering with Luvon Labs to empower AI and Web3 brands worldwide. Since 2022, BrandPR has helped crypto, blockchain, and AI clients gain exposure through top-tier media coverage and community-building. More at brandpr.io.About Golden Grid
Golden Grid is an on-chain pixel lottery where players claim a block on a living grid with original pixel art or a logo, connect their wallet, and take a shot at crypto, NFTs, and rewards from a prize pool that grows as more players join. Built around the lore of Ratoshi and the Syndicate, the platform runs on one rule: luck must circulate. More at goldengrid.xyz.
About HashLock
Hashlock is the industry leading blockchain cybersecurity and smart contract auditing firm. We specialise in manual analysis led security research, securing billions of dollars in digital assets, with clients ranging from innovative web3 startups to global blockchain enterprises.More at https://hashlock.com/About Kenomic
Kenomic is an AI-powered platform built for the entire token lifecycle, guiding founders through design, validation, launch, and post-launch management in one place. Its conversational AI agent, Keni, turns a plain project description into a launch-ready tokenomics model, backed by a digital-twin simulation engine that stress-tests the design across millions of market scenarios and a Kenomic Score that measures resilience before launch. Kenomic then deploys audit-grade smart contracts across 9 chains and keeps managing vesting, staking, airdrops, and treasury long after launch day. More at kenomic.ai.

Media and Partnership Contact
Anubhav Tomar, Co-Founder, Luvon Labs
Email: anubhav@luvonlabs.com
Telegram: @anubhavcfx
Web: Luvonlabs.com

Pitch Fest Bali 2026 : Récapitulatif, ObsessionDB remporte la victoire, 13 startups pitchent devant une salle de VC de premier plan
DeltaV-organisé, événement Web3 de démonstration réservé sur invitation, a réuni un panel de VC couvrant SC Ventures, TBV, Ape Ventures, Yellow, Cicada et Kosmos Ventures, avec plus de 100 000 $ de prix, crédits et soutien en jeu. Organisé le 19 août à Jimbaran, à Bali, la veille de Coinfest Asia.
BALI, INDONÉSIE. [ Date de sortie ]. Luvon Labs et SpedaxAI ont clôturé Pitch Fest Bali 2026 le 19 août, un événement Web3 de démonstration réservé sur invitation présenté par DeltaV et organisé à Dewata Padel à Jimbaran, la veille de Coinfest Asia. Treize startups sélectionnées ont présenté en direct face à un panel d’investisseurs en capital-risque de premier plan, en compétition pour une cagnotte de plus de 100 000 $ en prix, crédits et soutien.

Liquid Network, la side-chaîne de couche 2 du Bitcoin exploitée par une fédération mondiale de bourses de cryptomonnaies et d’institutions financières, a confirmé un grave incident de sécurité après qu’environ 4 000 BTC — d’une valeur approximative de 320 millions de dollars et représentant près de l’ensemble des réserves déclarées du réseau — ont été retirés de son portefeuille de fédération par des parties non identifiées se faisant passer pour des « hackers éthiques ».
Le réseau a été entièrement mis en pause pendant que Blockstream, son principal opérateur technique, tente de prendre contact avec les responsables.

Liquid Network, la plateforme de couche 2 du Bitcoin exploitée par une fédération mondiale de bourses de cryptomonnaies et d’institutions financières, a confirmé un grave incident de sécurité après qu’environ 4 000 BTC — soit environ 320 millions de dollars et représentant près de l’ensemble des réserves déclarées du réseau — ont été retirés de son portefeuille de fédération par des parties inconnues se présentant comme des « hackers » éthiques.
Le réseau a été entièrement mis en pause pendant que Blockstream, son principal opérateur technique, tente d’entrer en contact avec les personnes responsables.

Connected Africa 2026 – 7e édition des Telecom Innovation & Excellence Awards
Le principal sommet télécom d’AfriqueThème : Faire évoluer les télécommunications africaines vers les plateformes numériques et les infrastructures de nouvelle génération
Date : 15 October 2026Lieu : Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud
Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud – Le International Center for Strategic Alliances (ICSA) annonce avec fierté la 7e édition de Connected Africa – Telecom Innovation & Excellence Awards, qui se tiendra le 15 October 2026. Reconnu comme le principal sommet africain sur les télécommunications et les infrastructures numériques, Connected Africa 2026 réunira les dirigeants les plus influents du continent dans les domaines des télécommunications, de la banque, de la cybersécurité, du cloud et des technologies d’entreprise afin d’accélérer l’avenir numérique de l’Afrique du Sud.

Connected Africa 2026 – 7e édition des Telecom Innovation & Excellence Awards
Le sommet télécom phare d’Afrique
Thème : faire évoluer le secteur des télécommunications en Afrique vers les plateformes numériques et les infrastructures de nouvelle génération
Date : 15 octobre 2026
Lieu : Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud
Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud – Le Centre international pour les alliances stratégiques (ICSA) annonce avec fierté la 7e édition de Connected Africa – Telecom Innovation & Excellence Awards, qui se tiendra le 15 octobre 2026. Reconnu comme le principal sommet africain consacré aux télécommunications et aux infrastructures numériques, Connected Africa 2026 réunira les dirigeants les plus influents du continent dans les domaines des télécommunications, de la banque, de la cybersécurité, du cloud et des technologies d’entreprise afin d’accélérer l’avenir numérique de l’Afrique du Sud.

Ledger SAS, the world’s leading hardware cryptocurrency wallet manufacturer, is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, with the plaintiff alleging the company’s alleged failure to properly disclose a 2023 data breach directly enabled a sophisticated social engineering attack that drained nearly $2 million from his crypto wallets.
The lawsuit seeks at least $500 million in damages on behalf of a potential class of up to 210,000 affected users.
How the Alleged Theft Unfolded
Plaintiff Douglas Kim filed the complaint on August 27, 2026. According to the filing, Kim purchased his first Ledger hardware wallet in 2017 and later upgraded to a Ledger Nano X in 2021 — establishing a customer relationship spanning nearly a decade before the alleged theft occurred.
The complaint states that in February 2025, Kim was contacted by individuals claiming to represent Coincover and Ledger. The callers reportedly told him there had been an attempted enrollment in Ledger Recover, the company’s optional key-recovery service, and directed him to a website where he was instructed to provide sensitive information. According to the lawsuit, that information allegedly allowed the attackers to gain access to his cryptocurrency holdings. Kim discovered on February 20, 2025, that approximately $1.95 million had been transferred out of his wallets. He has reportedly not recovered any of the stolen assets.
Tracing the Attack Back to a 2023 Security Incident
The lawsuit’s central legal theory connects Kim’s individual loss to a broader security failure at Ledger dating back to December 2023, when the company’s Connect Kit — a software library that allows Ledger hardware wallets to interface with decentralized applications — was compromised. According to the complaint, attackers gained access through a former Ledger employee and used the compromised software library to facilitate fraudulent transactions across the platform.
The filing further alleges, on information and belief, that customer data exposed during that 2023 incident was subsequently used to specifically target Kim in the February 2025 social engineering scheme — providing attackers with the contact information and contextual detail needed to convincingly impersonate Ledger and Coincover representatives.
A Pattern the Lawsuit Says Goes Back Even Further
The complaint frames the 2023 incident as part of a longer pattern of security failures at Ledger, pointing back to a separate 2020 data breach that exposed personal information belonging to approximately 270,000 customers, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other personally identifiable information. According to the lawsuit, Ledger failed to timely and fully disclose the scope of the 2023 breach specifically, and that the leaked data from both incidents ultimately circulated on dark web marketplaces, where it could be purchased and used by scammers to craft convincing impersonation attacks against Ledger’s customer base.
The complaint characterizes this history in stark terms:
“Ledger has demonstrated a disturbing pattern of negligent, reckless, and irresponsible behavior with regard to its security posture and a callous disregard for its obligations to the privacy of its customers’ [personally identifiable information].”
The Legal Claims
Kim’s lawsuit brings multiple causes of action against Ledger, including violations of New York General Business Law Sections 349 and 350 — the state’s core consumer protection statutes governing deceptive business practices — alongside claims of negligence, negligent misrepresentation, promissory estoppel, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The complaint also demands a jury trial.
The Scale of the Proposed Class
Kim is seeking to represent a nationwide class of Ledger users who may have been similarly affected. The complaint estimates the proposed class could encompass up to 210,000 people, with total damages across the class potentially reaching at least $500 million — a figure that, if the class were certified and the plaintiffs prevailed, would represent one of the largest consumer damages awards in the cryptocurrency hardware industry’s history.
Important Legal Caveats
It’s worth emphasizing that, as with any newly filed complaint, none of the allegations against Ledger have been proven in court, and the proposed class has not yet been certified by the presiding judge. The case remains in its early stages within the Southern District of New York, and Ledger has not yet filed a formal public response to the specific allegations at the time of this reporting.
Why This Case Matters for the Broader Crypto Security Landscape
This lawsuit lands amid a broader wave of concern about physical and social engineering attacks targeting hardware wallet customers specifically. Similar incidents involving both Ledger and competitor Trezor have surfaced in recent months, including fraudulent physical mail scams and data exposure incidents tied to third-party shipping and fulfillment partners rather than the wallet manufacturers’ own core infrastructure.
What distinguishes the Ledger case is the legal argument being tested: that a company’s delayed or incomplete breach disclosure can itself become the basis for liability when leaked data is later weaponized in downstream fraud, rather than liability being limited to the original breach alone.
For the broader hardware wallet industry, the outcome of this case could set an important precedent regarding how quickly and thoroughly companies are legally required to disclose security incidents involving customer data — particularly in an industry where the entire value proposition rests on customers trusting that their private keys and personal information remain secure.
If Kim’s theory succeeds, it may push hardware wallet manufacturers toward faster, more comprehensive breach notifications, alongside more aggressive proactive warnings to customers about phishing and impersonation risks whenever a data exposure incident occurs, rather than treating disclosure as a purely discretionary or minimized corporate communications decision.

Robinhood Chain has recorded $34.6 billion in cumulative decentralized exchange (DEX) volume and $1.27 billion in protocol total value locked (TVL) just over two months after launching its public mainnet. Robinhood Crypto disclosed the figures in a two-month network update, which also showed 576 million transactions, 12.3 million addresses and more than 190 Stock Tokens already live on the blockchain.
The milestone comes as activity on Robinhood Chain expands beyond tokenized equities into a new speculative market combining traditional stocks with crypto-native meme culture. Memecoins paired directly with Robinhood Stock Tokens — a trend increasingly referred to by traders as “Stonks” or “stock memes” — have started attracting significant trading activity, while Pons, a token launchpad built on the network, has become one of crypto’s largest fee-generating applications.
Robinhood Chain Reaches $34.6 Billion in DEX Volume
According to Robinhood Crypto, Robinhood Chain reached several major milestones during its first two months:
– $34.6 billion in total DEX volume – $1.27 billion in protocol TVL – 576 million total transactions – 12.3 million total addresses – More than 190 Stock Tokens – Over $3 billion in cumulative Stock Token DEX volume – $7.29 billion in perpetual futures trading volume through Lighter
The figures are Robinhood’s own reported network statistics and highlight the rapid growth of its onchain ecosystem.
Robinhood Chain’s public mainnet officially launched on July 1, 2026, following the release of its public testnet on February 10. The network is an Ethereum Layer 2 built using the Arbitrum Platform and settles to Ethereum. ETH is used as its native gas token. Robinhood describes the blockchain as purpose-built for financial services and tokenized real-world assets.
At launch, Robinhood announced integrations with infrastructure providers including Chainlink, Alchemy and BitGo, alongside DeFi platforms including Uniswap. Its Stock Tokens are available to eligible Robinhood Wallet users in more than 120 countries, depending on jurisdiction.
Importantly, Robinhood Stock Tokens do not represent direct ownership of shares in the underlying companies. Robinhood describes the products as tokenized debt securities that provide economic exposure to the relevant underlying assets without granting traditional shareholder ownership or voting rights.
Pons Becomes a Major Driver of Robinhood Chain Activity
One of the biggest beneficiaries of Robinhood Chain’s recent activity has been Pons, a third-party token launchpad that allows users to create and trade tokens on the network.
Pons generated approximately $5.95 million in fees over a 24-hour period on September 3, according to DefiLlama data cited by CoinDesk. That temporarily placed it fourth among all protocols tracked by the platform, behind Tether, Uniswap and Circle, while exceeding the fees generated by Robinhood Chain itself during the same period.
Nearly 25,000 tokens were created through Pons on September 2, while daily trading volume reached approximately $544 million.
The platform’s native PONS token has benefited from the surge in activity. On September 3, PONS traded around $0.5978 on its Uniswap pool, up 31.82% over 24 hours and around 181 times above its July 17 low of $0.0033, according to Decrypt. PONS had also overtaken CASHCAT in late August to become the largest Robinhood Chain-native cryptocurrency by market capitalization at the time. Another catalyst arrived on September 2, when Binance Wallet added PONS and FLORK to Binance Alpha, with PONS available through Binance Alpha 1.0.
Pons is not an official Robinhood product, but its growth demonstrates how permissionless applications are developing independently on top of Robinhood’s blockchain.
What Are ‘Stonks’ on Robinhood Chain?
A particularly unusual trend has now emerged around Robinhood Chain’s biggest differentiating feature: tokenized stocks.
Crypto traders have started creating memecoins whose DEX liquidity is paired directly with tokenized stocks rather than conventional assets such as ETH or stablecoins.
The trend has been described across the emerging Robinhood Chain community as “stock memes” or “Stonks.”
“Stonks” itself is an intentional misspelling of “stocks” originating from a long-running internet meme used humorously to describe financial markets, questionable investment decisions and unexpectedly successful trades. On Robinhood Chain, the term has taken on a more literal meaning as meme tokens become connected to onchain representations of traditional financial assets. Stock-meme projects have appeared around tokenized assets referencing companies and products including AMC Entertainment, Nvidia, Apple and Tesla, among others. Instead of a conventional MEME/ETH liquidity pool, for example, a project can establish liquidity against a tokenized equity.
The structure does not mean the memecoin is issued, approved or backed by the company represented by the stock token. It remains a separate speculative crypto asset.
AMC Controversy Sends the Stonks Trend Into Overdrive
The distinction became particularly important on September 3 when AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron publicly criticized Robinhood’s tokenized version of AMC stock.
Aron said AMC had no connection with the product and did not approve or endorse it. He also questioned its legal structure and said AMC would ask outside securities counsel to examine the matter. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev responded publicly by asking:
“What’s the concern?”
Robinhood’s disclosures state that its Stock Tokens provide economic exposure rather than actual ownership of the companies whose securities they track and are not offered to U.S. persons.
Crypto traders quickly turned the controversy itself into another market. A Robinhood Chain memecoin called MEME, paired against the tokenized AMC asset, exploded in value within hours of its launch. GMGN data cited by BlockBeats showed its market capitalization passing $11.2 million early on September 4 before later exceeding $30 million. As speculation accelerated, the token briefly approached $150 million in market capitalization, with approximately $87.4 million in trading volume reported at that stage.
The move illustrates both the appeal and extreme risk of the emerging Stonks market: valuations can change by tens of millions of dollars within hours, and the memecoins themselves have no corporate relationship with the companies referenced by their paired Stock Tokens.
Robinhood Chain Blurs the Line Between TradFi and Crypto Culture
Robinhood originally positioned its blockchain around bringing traditional financial assets onchain. Stock Tokens can be traded through decentralized venues and, according to Robinhood, potentially integrated into DeFi applications as collateral or deposited into lending markets.
Two months after launch, however, the network is demonstrating another consequence of making traditional assets programmable: permissionless crypto markets can build entirely new products around them.
The result is an unusual collision between RWAs, DeFi and memecoin speculation. Robinhood Chain’s $34.6 billion in reported DEX volume shows that significant activity has already reached the network. Pons’ explosive growth and the emergence of Stock Meme trading suggest that tokenized equities are not being used solely as digital versions of traditional investments.
They are also becoming building blocks for a new — and highly speculative — category of onchain markets.

Robinhood Chain a enregistré 34,6 milliards de dollars de volume cumulé sur les échanges décentralisés (DEX) et 1,27 milliard de dollars de valeur totale verrouillée (TVL) dans le protocole, un peu plus de deux mois après le lancement de son mainnet public. Robinhood Crypto a dévoilé ces chiffres dans une mise à jour du réseau sur deux mois, qui a également montré 576 millions de transactions, 12,3 millions d’adresses et plus de 190 Stock Tokens déjà actifs sur la blockchain.
Cette étape importante intervient alors que l’activité sur Robinhood Chain s’étend au-delà des actions tokenisées vers un nouveau marché spéculatif combinant les actions traditionnelles avec la culture meme native de la crypto. Les memecoins associés directement aux Robinhood Stock Tokens — une tendance de plus en plus appelée par les traders « Stonks » ou « stock memes » — ont commencé à attirer une activité de trading significative, tandis que Pons, une plateforme de lancement de tokens construite sur le réseau, est devenue l’une des plus grandes applications génératrices de frais de la crypto.

Ledger SAS, le principal fabricant mondial de portefeuilles matériels de cryptomonnaies, fait l’objet d’un projet de recours collectif devant le tribunal de district des États-Unis pour le district sud de New York, le plaignant alléguant que le prétendu défaut de l’entreprise de divulguer correctement une violation de données en 2023 a directement permis une attaque d’ingénierie sociale sophistiquée qui a vidé près de 2 millions de dollars de ses portefeuilles crypto.
Le procès réclame au moins 500 millions de dollars de dommages-intérêts au nom d’un recours collectif potentiel pouvant aller jusqu’à 210 000 utilisateurs touchés.

The European Commission has formally designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), placing OpenAI’s flagship product under the same heightened regulatory scrutiny previously reserved for platforms like Google Search and Bing.
The same announcement designated Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), subjecting both to comparable obligations. All three companies now have until January 2027 to bring their services into full compliance with the DSA’s most demanding requirements.
Why These Three Platforms Crossed the Threshold
Under the DSA, any online service must self-report reaching an average of at least 45 million monthly active users within the European Union to qualify for VLOP or VLOSE designation — a threshold representing roughly 10% of the EU’s total population. ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox all confirmed they had surpassed this figure, triggering their formal classification by the Commission.
OpenAI’s own disclosed figures put the scale of ChatGPT’s European search usage well beyond the minimum threshold. According to data OpenAI submitted covering the period from October 2025 through March 31, 2026, ChatGPT’s search functionality alone averaged approximately 159.1 million monthly users across the European Union — more than three times the 45-million threshold required for VLOSE status.
What Changes for OpenAI Now
With the VLOSE designation in effect, ChatGPT becomes subject to the DSA’s most stringent obligations, specifically designed for platforms and search engines the Commission considers capable of generating systemic risk at EU-wide scale. OpenAI must now identify, assess, and actively mitigate systemic risks tied to its service, spanning several specific categories: the spread of illegal content, the protection of minors using the platform, users’ physical and mental well-being, the protection of fundamental rights, and risks to electoral processes and public security.
Beyond risk assessment, OpenAI is required to establish an internal compliance function specifically dedicated to DSA obligations, undergo independent, externally conducted audits at least once per year, and provide relevant operational data to both the European Commission and national regulators across member states. Additionally, vetted external researchers will gain the ability to formally request access to platform data needed to independently study systemic risks — a transparency requirement that has, for other VLOPs and VLOSEs, previously extended to areas like recommendation algorithm behavior and content moderation practices.
Mitigation measures the Commission can require are not limited to policy changes; they can extend to structural modifications of how the underlying service and its algorithmic or recommendation systems actually operate. For ChatGPT specifically, this could mean adjustments to how its search functionality surfaces information, handles queries related to elections or public health, or filters content accessible to younger users.
The Financial Stakes of Non-Compliance
The DSA carries substantial financial consequences for platforms that fail to meet these obligations. Companies designated as VLOPs or VLOSEs that violate the regulation can face fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue — not merely EU-generated revenue, but the company’s total worldwide turnover. Beyond financial penalties, the Commission retains authority to formally compel companies to remedy identified violations directly.
Part of a Broader EU Regulatory Push on AI and Tech Platforms
This designation does not exist in isolation. It follows closely on the heels of a separate but related regulatory expansion: in August 2026, the European Commission gained formal authority to impose fines on providers of general-purpose AI models specifically for violations of the EU’s AI Act, a distinct piece of legislation targeting the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems rather than online platform behavior. Together, the DSA designation and the AI Act enforcement authority signal that EU regulators are now applying overlapping layers of scrutiny to major AI companies — one focused on platform-level systemic risk (DSA), the other on the underlying AI models and systems themselves (AI Act).
This regulatory environment sits alongside the EU’s ongoing “Chat Control” framework governing messaging platforms, which currently operates under temporary rules allowing voluntary scanning of unencrypted content for child sexual abuse material, with end-to-end encrypted messages remaining outside the scope of that scanning permission. EU governments extended those temporary provisions through April 2028 while broader legislative debate over a permanent framework continues — illustrating a wider pattern of the EU building out comprehensive digital governance across search, social platforms, AI systems, and messaging simultaneously.
What This Means for the EU Market
The practical impact on OpenAI’s European operations is likely to be significant, though not necessarily disruptive to everyday users. Companies designated as VLOPs or VLOSEs under the DSA — including Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon before them — have generally responded by building out dedicated EU compliance teams, publishing periodic risk assessment reports, and in some cases modifying algorithmic systems specifically for EU users to satisfy regulatory requirements, sometimes resulting in feature differences between EU and non-EU versions of a product.
For OpenAI specifically, the designation formalizes something the sheer scale of ChatGPT’s European user base had already made inevitable: treatment as critical digital infrastructure rather than an emerging technology product exempt from the compliance burdens applied to established search engines and social platforms. Given that ChatGPT’s search feature alone reaches over 159 million monthly EU users — a figure larger than the entire population of most EU member states combined — the Commission’s designation reflects a recognition that generative AI search tools have already achieved a scale of societal reach comparable to the platforms the DSA was originally built to regulate.
What Happens Next
OpenAI, Reddit, and Roblox now have until January 2027 to demonstrate full compliance with their respective VLOSE and VLOP obligations. Given the precedent set by earlier DSA enforcement actions against other major platforms, the coming months are likely to bring public risk assessment disclosures, potential structural changes to how these services operate for EU users, and continued scrutiny from both the European Commission and vetted independent researchers examining how these platforms manage the systemic risks the DSA is designed to address.

La Commission européenne a officiellement désigné ChatGPT comme un moteur de recherche en ligne de très grande taille (Very Large Online Search Engine, VLOSE) au titre de la loi sur les services numériques (Digital Services Act, DSA) de l’UE, plaçant le produit phare d’OpenAI sous le même niveau accru de contrôle réglementaire que celui qui était auparavant réservé à des plateformes comme Google Search et Bing.
La même annonce a désigné Reddit et Roblox comme des plateformes en ligne de très grande taille (Very Large Online Platforms, VLOPs), les soumettant à des obligations comparables. Les trois entreprises disposent désormais jusqu’en janvier 2027 pour mettre leurs services en conformité totale avec les exigences les plus exigeantes de la DSA.

Des portefeuilles liés au groupe Lazarus, soutenu par l’État nord-coréen, ont transféré plus de 30 millions de dollars en Bitcoin via la bourse décentralisée Hyperliquid au cours des trois dernières semaines, selon une analyse de la blockchain — un développement particulièrement embarrassant, survenant au moment même où le président Trump pousse publiquement à intégrer pleinement la plateforme dans le système réglementaire américain.
Comment les fonds ont circulé
Emmett Gallic, analyste au sein de la société d’intelligence blockchain Arkham, a identifié l’activité du portefeuille et l’a retracée jusqu’à des adresses attribuées pour la première fois au groupe Lazarus par l’enquêteur indépendant ZachXBT en 2024; à ce moment-là, ces portefeuilles étaient déjà liés à 61 millions de dollars issus de fonds précédemment volés.

Des portefeuilles liés au groupe Lazarus, soutenu par l’État nord-coréen, ont déplacé plus de 30 millions de dollars en Bitcoin via l’échange décentralisé Hyperliquid au cours des trois dernières semaines, d’après une analyse de la blockchain — une évolution qui tombe à un moment particulièrement gênant, alors même que le président Trump pousse publiquement à intégrer pleinement la plateforme au système de réglementation américain.
Comment les fonds ont circulé
Emmett Gallic, analyste au sein de la société d’intelligence blockchain Arkham, a identifié l’activité du portefeuille et l’a retracée jusqu’à des adresses attribuées pour la première fois au groupe Lazarus par l’investigateur indépendant ZachXBT en 2024. À ce moment-là, ces portefeuilles étaient déjà liés à 61 millions de dollars de fonds auparavant dérobés.

Cronos, le réseau blockchain initialement développé par Crypto.com, a pris une décision inhabituelle en interrompant l’ensemble de sa chaîne après qu’un attaquant a exploité Tectonic, le plus grand protocole de prêt du réseau, lors d’une attaque estimée provisoirement à 75 millions de dollars.
L’incident marque la troisième exploitation de manipulation de prix de ce type à avoir touché des protocoles de prêt DeFi ces derniers mois, après des attaques similaires contre Moonwell et le marché reUSD/Pendle YT.
Comment l’attaque a fonctionné
Selon la chercheuse on-chain Weilin Li, qui suit l’exploitation en temps réel, l’attaquant a manipulé le prix du TONIC, le propre jeton de gouvernance de Tectonic, avant d’emprunter massivement en s’appuyant sur la valeur du collatéral artificiellement gonflée. Li a expliqué clairement la vulnérabilité sous-jacente :

Cronos, le réseau blockchain à l’origine développé par Crypto.com, a pris la démarche inhabituelle d’arrêter l’ensemble de sa chaîne après qu’un attaquant a exploité Tectonic, le plus grand protocole de prêt du réseau, dans une attaque estimée provisoirement à 75 millions de dollars.
L’incident marque le troisième exploit de manipulation de prix de ce style précis à toucher des protocoles de prêt DeFi au cours des derniers mois, après des attaques similaires visant Moonwell et le marché reUSD/Pendle YT.
Comment l’attaque a fonctionné
Selon la chercheuse on-chain Weilin Li, qui suit l’exploit en temps réel, l’attaquant a manipulé le prix du TONIC, le propre token de gouvernance de Tectonic, avant d’emprunter massivement en s’appuyant sur la valeur du collatéral artificiellement gonflée. Li a expliqué clairement la vulnérabilité sous-jacente :

Une structure de propriété nouvellement divulguée révèle que la banque de cryptomonnaies que la famille Trump prévoit de lancer est largement soutenue par un royal des Émirats arabes unis : une entité liée à Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan détient une participation de 49 % dans la société de portefeuille du projet — soit près d’égaler les 38 % détenus par la propre entreprise de crypto de la famille Trump, selon un rapport du Wall Street Journal citant des personnes familières du dossier.
La structure de propriété derrière la banque
La participation appartient à WLTC Holdings, l’entité World Liberty Financial (WLFI) créée spécifiquement pour abriter ses opérations bancaires. D’après les informations rapportées par le Journal, une entité liée à Sheikh Tahnoun — parfois appelé, dans les milieux diplomatiques et du renseignement, le « sheikh espion » — contrôle juste un peu moins de la moitié de cette société de portefeuille, tandis qu’une entreprise affiliée à la famille du président Donald Trump détient 38 % supplémentaires.

Le protocole de prêts de finance décentralisée Moonwell a subi une exploitation sur Base, avec des pertes estimées à environ 8,7 millions de dollars, selon des chercheurs en sécurité blockchain qui surveillent l’incident. PeckShieldAlert a signalé l’activité suspecte le 27 août, indiquant qu’environ 8,7 millions de dollars avaient été vidés et identifiant une adresse détenant les fonds concernés. D’autres chercheurs en sécurité blockchain ont ensuite rapporté une activité impliquant le marché MAMO de Moonwell sur Base.
Moonwell a reconnu un problème affectant son marché MAMO Core sur Base et a indiqué qu’il enquêtait activement sur l’incident. Le protocole n’a pas immédiatement confirmé le montant final des pertes ni publié un compte rendu technique complet. En mesure d’urgence, Moonwell a fortement réduit les limites d’emprunt sur ses marchés Base Core et restreint l’offre pour MAMO et WELL pendant que l’enquête se poursuit.