Bitcoin holds near $64,000 as U.S. inflation data looms, Harmony exploit rattles altcoins

SummaryHarmony confirmed a suspected exploit after an attacker minted roughly 4 billion ONE tokens via empty blocks, equal to about 26% of total supply, sending the token to a record low.The July U.S. CPI print is due at 12:30 UTC and is the main macro event of the day. Brent crude is near $90 a barrel after fresh Houthi attacks on shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and a US strike on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman overnight, complicating the inflation picture.Bitcoin is up 0.23% since midnight UTC at around $63,979, with Fear and Greed at 38 and total market cap holding at $2.19 trillion.  Crypto markets were steady on Wednesday as traders absorbed a protocol exploit while waiting for a U.S. inflation report that often sets the tone for risk assets.  Harmony, a layer-1 blockchain network for DeFi protocols and marketplaces. confirmed it had been hit by an exploit early in the Asian day. An attacker minted some 4 billion ONE tokens through empty blocks, representing about 26% of the tokens circulating supply.  Around 2.8 billion of the tokens were quickly funneled to exchanges, pushing ONE down as much as 40% to a record low.  Broader markets were also little changed

2 days agoIndustry

Bitcoin developers could fall behind attackers without top AI models, BPI says

A group of crypto companies and industry organizations has called on frontier AI labs to give Bitcoin and other open-source financial infrastructure developers trusted access to their most capable models as AI-assisted cyber threats become more advanced.  The Bitcoin Policy Institute said in an open letter published Monday that developers responsible for securing open-source financial systems can be excluded from specialist cyber programs or restricted by safeguards built into publicly available frontier AI models.  Bitcoin developers seek access to stronger AI security tools  Under the proposal, AI companies would “establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure,” allowing vetted security researchers and maintainers to use capabilities that may otherwise be restricted.  BPI argued that access has become more important as advanced AI systems gain the ability to examine large codebases, identify potential vulnerabilities and speed up difficult technical work. These capabilities can help legitimate researchers find flaws, but the institute said they can also be used by attackers looking for weaknesses.  For Bitcoin developers, the letter said the access gap can leave maintainers dependent on less capable open-weight models when frontier systems either refuse security-related requests or remain available only through programs that do not include open-source financial infrastructure.  The institute

2 days agoIndustry

Cryptocurrency Market Spot Trading Volume Sees Huge Drop, But the Exchange Experiencing the Smallest Drop Surprises! Here Are the Details

Spot trading volumes in the cryptocurrency market declined significantly in July 2026 compared to the previous month. According to a report covering data from 14 major cryptocurrency exchanges, the total spot trading volume on these platforms reached $429 billion.  Total trading volume, which stood at $547.9 billion in June, decreased by 21.7% month-on-month in July. Another notable development in the report was the decline in spot trading volume across all 14 exchanges examined compared to the previous month. This indicates that trading activity in the cryptocurrency market generally weakened during the summer months.  Binance achieved the highest spot trading volume in July. With a volume of $196.5 billion, the exchange alone accounted for 45.8% of the total market. Binance was followed by OKX with $41.6 billion and Bybit with $36.3 billion.  The top three exchanges accounted for 64% of the total spot trading volume. This shows that the majority of trading activity continues to be concentrated on a limited number of large platforms.  The monthly decline rates among exchanges also showed significant differences. Uniswap experienced the smallest volume decline among the 14 platforms, with spot trading volume falling by 9.8% on a monthly basis. It was followed by Kraken with a 13.4% decrease and

2 days agoExchange

Bank of England taps Polygon consortium for digital pound trade finance tests

NOBO Finance, Dun & Bradstreet and Polygon Labs have joined Phase 2 of the Bank of Englands Digital Pound Lab to test SME trade finance flows that combine stablecoin payments, digital pound settlement and reusable business identity.  SummaryNOBO Finance, Dun & Bradstreet and Polygon Labs have joined Phase 2 of the Bank of Englands Digital Pound Lab to test cross border SME trade finance.The consortium will develop a reusable SME credit profile using transaction data, business intelligence and Polygon based smart contract infrastructure.A second workstream will test invoice factoring where exporters receive stablecoin advances while UK importers complete final settlement in digital pounds.The Digital Pound Lab uses no real customers or money and does not mean the Bank of England has decided to issue a digital pound.  According to a press release shared with crypto.news, the consortium will test two connected workstreams inside the central banks experimental programme, with Polygon Labs providing stablecoin settlement, wallet and smart contract infrastructure through its Open Money Stack.  The programme does not involve real customers or money, allowing the participants to examine how different forms of digital money and financial data could work together without operating in a live financial environment. NOBO, a UK fintech focused on

2 days agoIndustry

Harmonys ONE dives 40% after an attack appears to mint tokens equal to quarter of supply

SummaryHarmonys ONE token plunged about 40% after an apparent exploit created roughly 4 billion new tokens, increasing the supply by more than a quarter.The Harmony team confirmed the incident, said it is working with exchanges to freeze funds, and is preparing a software patch and possible rollback of the blockchain.The episode follows earlier security and token-creation issues on Harmony, including a 2022 $100 million bridge hack and a 2023 bug that improperly minted about 146.3 million ONE.  Harmony‘s ONE token fell about 40% in Asian morning hours Wednesday after an apparent exploit created roughly 4 billion new tokens, an amount equal to more than a quarter of the token’s existing supply.  The company confirmed the attack and told the network operators that help run the Harmony network to install an emergency software update that it said would prevent any further minting. The project is separately working on how to deal with tokens that were already created.  It also paused its token bridge and asked exchanges to freeze funds traced to four addresses linked to the incident.  “We are working on a patch and rollback options,” Harmony said, adding that it would provide another update when more information is available.  We are asking all exchanges to

2 days agoIndustry

XRP bridge exploit update: tx identifies flaw, alerts FBI

Tx said on Aug. 12 that its XRPL bridge was exploited on Aug. 9 after an attacker abused faulty deposit detection logic, draining XRP from the bridge reserve.  SummaryTx says attackers stole 198,715.88 XRP after exploiting a flaw in bridge deposit verification logic.The XRPL bridge remains halted while developers review security upgrades and possible user remedy options.Attackers converted stolen XRP into ETH before routing funds through THORChain and Tornado Cash afterward.Tx filed an FBI IC3 complaint with transaction records and additional identifying information about attackers.Other bridged assets remain fully backed, while bridged XRP currently lacks complete reserve backing.  Technical lead Reza Bashash put the stolen amount at 198,715.88 XRP. The bridge remains halted while the team evaluates recovery options and strengthens the affected software, according to its latest post.  The company said the flaw caused transactions that never delivered XRP to the bridge to be registered as deposits. This allowed unbacked bridged XRP to be minted on the tx chain. The attacker then withdrew real XRP from the reserve wallet against those balances.  You might also like:  XRP bridge loses 200,000 XRP after relayer logic flaw  Tx says destination checks failed in the bridge relayer  Tx said the vulnerability was in the bridge software rather than the

2 days agoIndustry

Fidelity moves to add staking, quarterly payouts to near $900 million ether ETF

SummaryFidelity plans to add ether staking and cash distributions to its Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), which has $898 million in net assets.The fund would keep 85% of gross staking rewards, with the remaining 15% going to service providers.The move follows similar initiatives from Grayscale and 21Shares, while BlackRock launched a separate staking product.  Fidelity is preparing to add staking and quarterly cash payouts to its Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), one of the largest spot ether ETFs in the U.S.  FETH, with $898 million in net assets, could stake as much as 100% of its ether under normal conditions, though Fidelity set no minimum, according to an amended registration statement. The fund would keep some ETH available for redemptions, expenses and other liquidity needs.  The shift follows an IRS safe harbor bulletin issued in November 2025 that lets qualifying crypto trusts stake assets without losing their grantor-trust tax status. Fidelity would join Grayscale and in adding staking to existing ether funds. BlackRock took a different route by introducing a separate staking product.  Fidelity would retain 85% of gross staking rewards, while the remaining 15% would go to the fund sponsor, custodians and node operators. Blockdaemon, Figment and Galaxy are named as the trusts node operators.  Net

2 days agoIndustry

FlightAware withdraws Kalshi lawsuit after flight market dispute

FlightAware has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against prediction market operator Kalshi just one day after accusing the company of improperly using its flight data and trademark for cancellation contracts.  According to a Tuesday filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, FlightAware voluntarily withdrew the legal action that it had brought against Kalshi on Monday, ending the case shortly after seeking emergency court intervention.  The flight-tracking company had also requested a temporary restraining order that would have barred Kalshi from activities involving FlightAware while the dispute was being considered. The request did not proceed after the company dismissed the case.  FlightAware did not provide a public explanation in the supplied filing for why it withdrew the lawsuit so quickly. Corporate lawyer and Givner Law founder Ariel Givner said on X that such a rapid withdrawal after seeking a temporary restraining order can point to a private resolution between the parties.  “When a plaintiff drops a case this fast after demanding a TRO, it usually means the parties worked something out privately,” Givner said.  FlightAware lawsuit had targeted Kalshis cancellation markets  Filed Monday, FlightAwares complaint accused Kalshi of improperly using its data and trademark to operate prediction markets tied to whether flights would be canceled.  The

2 days agoIndustry

Brad Lightcap Becomes Latest OpenAI Executive to Head for Exit

Brad Lightcap, a longtime OpenAI executive and former chief operating officer, has announced that he is leaving the company after 8 years to start a new venture.   The announcement adds to a wave of senior exits at the artificial intelligence (AI) firm.  Brad Lightcap Exits OpenAI to Launch New Venture After 8 Years  Lightcap shared the message he sent to his team on X. He joined OpenAI in 2018 and helped build its finance, legal, and business teams. He became the firms chief operating officer in 2024.  Sponsored  Sponsored  Lightcap then moved to a special projects role in April. At the time, the firm named Denise Dresser, chief revenue officer, to take over some of his responsibilities.  Chief Executive Sam Altman publicly thanked Lightcap and said he looked forward to working “together on whats next.” Lightcap said he would remain around for a few weeks.  “I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent most of the last decade pursuing our mission and building this company. Sitting here today, mission success feels within sight. It has been the honor of my life to help bring us to this point, and to do it alongside all of you,” he said.  Follow us on X to get the latest news as it

2 days agoIndustry

SBI plans Japan-Korea stablecoin network on Canton

SBI Digital Practice and South Koreas Nodeinfra agreed to jointly develop a cross-border payment and settlement network between Japan and South Korea using Canton Network infrastructure.  The companies announced the memorandum of understanding on Aug. 7, calling the initiative Project Musubi. The first phase will use yen-denominated and won-denominated test tokens rather than live commercial stablecoins, according to SBIs release.  The project is designed to address the current use of the U.S. dollar as an intermediary in some Japan-Korea settlements. SBI said sequential settlement through a dollar vehicle can create additional friction and settlement risk. Project Musubi instead plans to settle both sides of a currency exchange simultaneously on Canton.  SBI stablecoin payment network starts with test tokens  The initial testing phase will use a yen test token and a won test token. SBI and Nodeinfra said they intend to move toward regulated stablecoins when the legal frameworks in each market allow it. The companies did not provide a commercial launch date or name participating banks, exchanges or payment firms.  SBI Digital Practice and Nodeinfra Partner to Launch Cross-Border Stablecoin Payment Network Connecting Japan and South Korea  Japanese financial powerhouse SBI Group, through its Canton Network-focused entity SBI Digital Practice (SBIDP), has signed a Memorandum of

2 days agoIndustry
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