Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Washington court orders Kalshi to halt most prediction market offerings in state

Quick TakeA Washington court has ordered Kalshi to stop offering prediction markets related to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science, or “mentions” in the state.Kalshi must geofence Washington users by Sept. 2.　　A Washington court issued a final order requiring Kalshi to cease offering a wide range of event contracts in the state, after finding the company likely violated its gambling regulations.　　The order directs Kalshi to stop accepting or facilitating bets on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science, or “mentions” in Washington.　　Kalshi must adopt an IP address and residency-based geofence by Aug. 19 and a multi-source geofencing system by Sept. 2 to prevent users in Washington from accessing the restricted markets on Kalshi. The court also barred Kalshi from advertising the restricted wagers to Washington consumers, ruling that the companys marketing of illegal gambling activities constitutes unfair or deceptive practices.　　“Kalshi has gotten rich promoting wagers on sports, elections, natural disasters, events related to the Iran War, and more. Under this order, Kalshi is banned from offering wagers on most of those topics in Washington,” said Attorney General Nick Brown. “As this case moves forward, we will continue to enforce Washington law and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading

2 days agoIndustry

XRP Slides 69% From Peak While Existing Wallet Activity Climbs

XRP closed near $1 on Aug. 13, about 69% below its January 2025 peak. Daily active addresses rose roughly one-third in August, while new-address creation remained virtually unchanged from July.　　Key TakeawaysXRP recorded its lowest daily close since November 2024.Active addresses rose about 35%, while new addresses stayed flat.Higher activity does not confirm growth in individual users.　　XRP Price Weakness Collides With Higher Ledger Activity　　XRP traded near $1 on Aug. 13, its lowest level since November 2024 and roughly 69% below its January 2025 peak near $3.30, as ledger activity increased despite the steep retreat. Santiments analysis showed active addresses rising sharply in August while new-address creation remained virtually unchanged from July.　　Amid favorable regulatory momentum, XRP climbed even higher in July 2025, reaching a new peak of approximately $3.65. The summer rally briefly pushed its market capitalization above $200 billion, cementing it as one of the top-performing assets of that period.　　“Price closed at ~$1.00 on Aug 12, the lowest daily close since Nov 2024 and roughly 69% below the January 2025 peak near $3.30,” Santiment wrote, demonstrating how far the asset has retreated during the prolonged decline. The firm added:　　“Activity picked up anyway. Active addresses averaged ~35,700 a day in August against

2 days agoIndustry

Tether completes first full financial audit, receives clean KPMG opinion

Tether completed the first full independent audit of its annual financial statements, with KPMG US issuing a clean opinion on the stablecoin issuers 2025 accounts.　　The audit covered Tethers balance sheet, income statement and cash flows for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, including the assets backing its issued tokens and the liabilities they represent. Tether said the audited statements showed reserves exceeding liabilities by $6.814 billion.　　Unlike Tether‘s quarterly reserve attestations, which it has published for years, the full audit subjected the company’s broader financial statements and underlying evidence to independent examination, including transactions, systems, ownership records, valuations and counterparties.Source: Paolo Ardoino　　As part of the audit, KPMG physically inspected and counted Tethers gold holdings, verifying each bar rather than relying solely on custodian records.　　Tether said KPMG issued an unqualified opinion on the statements, finding they fairly presented the companys financial position, results and cash flows in all material respects under US accounting standards.　　Related: Tether signs tokenization deal with Nairobi Securities Exchange　　Tethers growing financial footprint　　Tether launched its USDt (USDT) stablecoin in 2014 and has since grown into one of the crypto industrys largest companies, generating more than $10 billion in net profit in 2025. In the second quarter of this year, the

2 days agoIndustry

U.S. SEC to again delay 'innovation exemption' for tokenization amid Wall Street, White House concerns

The source also said SEC staff have become increasingly focused on the agencys legal authority to issue such broad relief, including whether it has completed sufficient economic analysis and followed the procedural steps required to justify an exemption. Industry insiders have been instructed that this effort may need to wait for the outcome of the Clarity Act.　　Resistance came from traditional financial institutions as well.　　SIFMA, the Wall Street trade group whose members include major broker-dealers and investment banks, has emerged as one of the main groups halting the SECs initiative, according to an industry source familiar with the discussions. SIFMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.　　The groups concerns centered on how blockchain-based trading venues would fit within existing equity-market rules, particularly brokers obligations to seek the best execution for customers, the source said.　　Under todays market structure, Regulation NMS links prices across exchanges and generally requires brokers to execute trades at the best available protected quotation. That framework becomes less straightforward if tokenized securities trade through decentralized venues or automated market makers (AMM), where pricing and execution costs may differ from traditional exchanges.　　In June, the SEC proposed eliminating Rule 611 of Regulation NMS — the so-called Order Protection Rule

2 days agoIndustry

City of Baltimore goes after prediction markets for sports betting

The City of Baltimore and its mayor, Brendan Scott, filed lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket over allegations that the companies violated local gambling laws.　　In a Thursday notice, the Baltimore mayor‘s office said that the two prediction market companies operated “illegal, unlicensed sports-betting platforms” and misled users about the “legality and regulatory status of their products.” The lawsuits are centered on claims disputing Kalshi’s and Polymarkets characterization of event contracts, arguing that the trades amount to unlawful wagers under state laws.　　“These companies are running sportsbooks without licenses and betting that a new label will put them above the law,” said Scott. “It wont. Baltimore will not let multibillion-dollar companies put profits over people and harm our communities through illegal gambling.”　　Notably, the citys complaint against Kalshi included Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as partners with the prediction market platform. All companies were accused of deceptive practices by marketing sports contracts as something that can “lawfully be purchased and traded in Maryland.”　　The legal action against prediction market companies was the latest conflict between US state and federal authorities, and many experts expect it to end with an appeal to the Supreme Court. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under Chair Michael Selig, and

2 days agoIndustry

Tether says it completed long-promised 'Big Four' audit of finances behind $180 billion USDT stablecoin

The audit is a step up from the quarterly attestations Tether has published for years after settling an investigation with the New York Attorney Generals office. An attestation checks specific information, such as the amount and composition of reserves at a given date. A financial audit takes a broader look at a companys books, testing transactions, assets, liabilities, income, cash flows and the evidence supporting them.　　Tether said in March that it had hired a “Big Four” accounting firm to conduct its first full audit. KPMG is one of the Big Four, the group of accounting giants that also includes Deloitte, EY and PwC and audits many of the worlds largest companies.　　KPMG examined Tethers transactions, systems, valuations, counterparties and ownership records, according to the company. Auditors also physically counted and inspected its gold bars.　　Tether has repeatedly promised a full audit while relying on reserve attestations, leaving critics asking why a company of its size hadnt undergone the same level of scrutiny common among large financial firms.　　Concerns about the stability and backing of its USDT token, a key piece of infrastructure for crypto trading and markets, have surfaced from time to time as a potential systemic risk for digital assets. The recurring

2 days agoIndustry

FCA, HTX in Settlement Talks Over Illegal UK Crypto Promotions: Report

In briefBritains Financial Conduct Authority and HTX are in talks to settle the regulators claim that the exchange illegally promoted crypto services to UK consumers.The High Court has paused proceedings until late August to let the two sides reach a deal, Reuters reported from court filings.The FCAs claim names a Panamanian company and four categories of “persons unknown,” including anyone who takes over the exchange before October 2028.　　The Financial Conduct Authority and HTX are “in talks” to negotiate a settlement in the regulators case over unlawful crypto promotions to UK consumers, with Londons High Court pausing proceedings until late August to let the two sides reach terms, Reuters reported from court filings. The sides exchanged emails in March, opened three months of talks and extended them by a further two on June 25.　　The FCA issued proceedings in the Chancery Division on October 21 last year, in the first enforcement action of its kind against a crypto exchange over marketing, with the claim itself published in February. It is seeking an injunction and a declaration that the defendants breached section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act, which bars unauthorized financial promotions.　　The particulars of claim name Huobi Global S.A., a

3 days agoIndustry

Trezor shipping provider breach exposes personal data of nearly 14,000 customers

Quick TakeA breach at Trezor‘s shipping partner ShipMonk exposed customer names and contact information, including nearly 12,000 customers’ phone numbers and shipping addresses.Victims could now be at higher risk of phishing attempts or, in the worst case, targets of violent attacks.　　Nearly 14,000 Trezor customers had their personal information exposed in a breach at shipping provider ShipMonk, most of whom had their names, phone numbers and home addresses exposed.　　According to a Trezor announcement late Wednesday, ShipMonk informed the hardware wallet manufacturer on Monday that an unauthorized party had accessed the systems holding customer order data.　　It specified that the names, email addresses, phone numbers and shipping addresses of 11,742 customers had been exposed. Another 1,947 customers had their names, cities and email addresses leaked, bringing the rough estimate of victims to around 13,700 across the U.S., UK, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, Italy and Portugal.　　Trezor said the breach does not affect its internal systems and that the hardware wallets themselves remain secure.　　“This is the first time since Trezor was founded in 2013 that we have experienced a breach that exposed customer phone numbers and shipping addresses,” the company said.　　The exposed customers are now at a higher risk of being targeted by phishing campaigns, where

3 days agoIndustry

Bitcoin continues ranging as crowded longs meet soft inflation, the quietest tape since 2019: analysts

Quick TakeBitcoin drifted below $64,000 on Thursday and couldnt build on two straight days of benign inflation data.Glassnode read the muted response as confirmation that demand has gone missing, while one analysts argued against the cautious consensus.　　Bitcoin (BTC) stayed range-bound on Thursday, pinned below $64,000, as soft inflation data failed to lift crypto market sentiment.　　Julys Consumer Price Index (CPI), out Tuesday, was largely unchanged — core inflation slipped a tenth to 2.5% and the headline rate stayed flat. Soft wholesale inflation data on Thursday still failed to bring in any meaningful buying interest.　　Indeed, wholesale inflation gave the market nothing to fear on Thursday. The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand was unchanged in July, with services up 0.2% and goods down 0.7%, and rose 4.7% over the 12 months ended in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Initial jobless claims rose to 209,000 for the week ending Aug. 8, above expectations of 202,000.　　The muted reaction concerns Glassnode analysts more than the data.　　“A weak response to good news is itself a warning,” Glassnode wrote, reading the failure to rally as a sign that demand remains missing.　　Bitcoin price after soft July inflation data | Image: The Block.Pinned between two

3 days agoIndustry

Ether.fi adds tokenized stocks, metals and Aave-powered portfolio loans in latest 'neobank' expansion

Quick TakeEther.fis non-custodial neobank app “Summer” upgrade adds tokenized stock and metal trading, full-portfolio borrowing via Aave, and expanded global fiat payments, among other updates.The protocol said it is trying to be “less crypto-forward,” aimed at attracting “a much broader audience.”　　Ether.fi launched an upgraded version of its non-custodial “neobank,” integrating trading in tokenized stocks and metals, portfolio borrowing via Aave, expanded global fiat payments, and programmatic buybacks of its ETHFI token into a single app designed as an alternative to traditional banks, according to an announcement on Thursday.　　The projects “Summer” release allows users to buy tokenized equities and commodities through xStocks alongside crypto assets, hold them in self-custodial vaults with social recovery, and borrow against their full portfolio at DeFi rates currently near 4% to fund spending on the ether.fi Cash card or other transfers.　　In the announcement, Ether.fi noted its updated app is “less crypto-forward,” and aimed at attracting “a much broader audience.”　　“With ether.fi, were bridging the gap between decentralized finance and everyday financial needs,” ether.fi CEO Mike Silagadze said. “Our goal is to replace the traditional bank for most users and give them tools and benefits that were previously available only to institutions and high-net-worth individuals. That is the

3 days agoIndustry

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