Consensys warns FDIC proposal could overextend GENIUS Act restrictions

Consensys has urged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to revise parts of its proposed stablecoin framework, arguing that several provisions tied to the GENIUS Act could unintentionally restrict ordinary distribution models and access to decentralized finance tools.Consensys said parts of the FDICs proposed stablecoin rules could go beyond the intent of the GENIUS Act.The company argued that self-custodial wallet providers should not be treated as intermediaries when users access DeFi protocols independently.Consensys also warned that automatic penalties tied to reserve or redemption shortfalls could create risks for stablecoin holders during periods of stress.  According to a filing released by the blockchain software company, the response forms part of a coordinated series of submissions to U.S. regulators that also included comments sent to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on May 1 and a separate Treasury Department submission covering state-level oversight frameworks.  Consensys said the three filings together outline its position on how payment stablecoins should be regulated under the new federal framework expected to govern the sector over the coming decade.  At issue are several provisions contained in the FDICs proposed rule implementing the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law signed earlier this year that introduced reserve, redemption, custody, and capital standards

05-21

‘One Hundred Years Of Solitude’ Part 2 Gets August Premiere Dates

Netflix/Mauricio González  The highly anticipated conclusion to the first-ever screen adaptation of (), Gabriel García Márquezs iconic novel, will finally arrive in August.  Netflix unveiled first-look images from the final chapter of the sweeping Colombian production, confirming Part 2 premieres on August 5. The streamer is not dropping all episodes at once. Instead, seven episodes will debut first, followed by the grand finale on August 26.  The new images tease a darker and more emotionally charged Macondo as the Buendía family‘s story moves toward its inevitable end. Spanning generations marked by war, impossible love, political violence and tragedy, the second installment follows the town’s transformation from utopian dream into ruin.  “Each episode of this second part is like a film,” shared Colombian director Laura Mora, whose vision, alongside co-director Carlos Moreno, guided much of the final installment. “We took the series to another level aesthetically, narratively, and through sound and music to build a much more cinematic and emotional ending.”  Immersed for years in the world of Macondo, Mora explained that the team designed the final moments to match the scale of their long journey. “After living in that house and in that town for three years, we felt that closing this journey had to

05-21

Microsoft Fox Tempest takedown targets certificate abuse

Tech  Microsoft Fox Tempest takedown targets certificate abuse  Microsofts Microsoft Fox Tempest takedown targeted a part of cybercrime that usually stays out of sight: the service layer that makes malware look trustworthy. By disrupting Fox Tempest, seizing infrastructure, and revoking more than 1,000 code-signing certificates, Microsoft moved against a system that allegedly helped hackers dress malicious files up as legitimate software.  That mattered because victims were not just downloading obvious scam files. Instead, the operation allegedly made fake installers for familiar tools like Teams, AnyDesk, and Webex appear genuine enough to slip past security checks and antivirus protections. In at least one chain described by Microsoft, a bogus Teams installer delivered Oyster malware and later led to Rhysida ransomware.  The case also shows how modern malware distribution increasingly depends on trusted cloud and signing services. Rather than building everything from scratch, attackers can abuse real platforms to gain credibility fast, then cycle through infrastructure before defenders catch up.  Microsoft takes down Fox Tempests certificate-abuse service  Microsoft said it disrupted the Fox Tempest cybercrime service and launched legal action against the people behind it. The operation centered on a malware-enabling service that allegedly provided digitally signed certificates to other threat actors.  As part of the Microsoft Fox Tempest

05-21

Ripple CLO Alderoty Breaks Down What Clarity Act Really Means for US Market

The legislation received an additional boost from the position of the U.S. administration, which is pushing for the final approval of the Act before Independence Day on July 4.  Despite successfully passing the Banking Committee and resolving disagreements surrounding stablecoins, one final round of negotiations remains before the full Senate vote. The discussions are focused on ethical standards for government officials and their family members.  What does the Clarity Act change for Ripple and XRP?  For Ripples product lineup, the legislation opens a direct gateway to American capital. The compromise reached in Washington regarding payment tokens effectively gives the green light for expanding the RLUSD dollar-backed stablecoin in the U.S. market.  For XRP, a clear distinction between payment stablecoins and investment assets would legitimize cross-border settlements using the token and fully protect the ecosystem from sudden attacks by U.S. regulators. Ripple would gain predictable rules of the game and the ability to seamlessly connect XRP with the new stablecoin, transforming the United States from a zone of legal risk into the companys main growth driver.

05-21

CFTC Sues Minnesota Over a New State Prediction Market Felony Law

Tech  CFTC Sues Minnesota Over a New State Prediction Market Felony LawCFTC sued Minnesota over a new law making prediction market activity a felony.CFTC Chair called Minnesotas prediction market law the most aggressive state crackdown yet.The case signals ongoing federal-state clashes over classifying and regulating event contracts.  According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commissions (CFTC) press release, the CFTC chairman, Michael S. Selig, filed a lawsuit against Minnesota to block a new state law, signed by Governor Tim Walz, that would make operating or assisting in the operation of a prediction market a criminal felony.  The legislation makes trading or operating event contracts a felony, directly challenging CFTC authority. Minnesota claims it protects citizens from gambling risks, while the CFTC argues it harms farmers and undermines federal markets.  Selig stated that the law turns “lawful operators and participants in prediction markets into felons overnight” and represents the most aggressive state attempt to shut down CFTC-regulated markets.  Why the CFTC Is Challenging Minnesotas Prediction Market Felony Law  The CFTC filed the lawsuit because it considers Minnesotas statute an unconstitutional overreach that intrudes on the agencys exclusive federal jurisdiction under the Commodity Exchange Act. The Minnesota law would make it a felony to create, operate, manage, assist, or

05-21

Ethereum retests $2,100, but could ETH crash amid technical breakdown?

Ethereum  Ethereum retests $2,100, but could ETH crash amid technical breakdown?Ethereum is testing the $2,140 level after an intraweek low near $2,070.A technical breakdown raises the risk of a sharp decline to $1,350, CryptoQuant notes.Bullish catalysts could include regulatory clarity and continued institutional demand.  Ethereum (ETH) briefly traded back above the $2,100 level on Wednesday after gaining about 1% over the past 24 hours as Bitcoin reclaimed the $77,200 mark.  While the rebound offered some relief for bulls, the altcoin remains under pressure following a sharp weekly decline.  Technical indicators continue pointing to elevated downside risk, with some analysts warning that ETH could face a deeper correction toward the $1,350 level.  Ethereum price today  Market data during the US session on Wednesday showed Ethereum testing the $2,140 zone after rebounding from intraweek lows near $2,070.  The rebound followed several sessions of heavy selling, although ETH remains well below recent swing highs.  Ethereum is currently trading nearly 7% lower for the week and roughly 28% lower year to date.  The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering near oversold territory, which may suggest conditions for a short-term relief bounce.  However, ETH continues trading below all major moving averages on the daily chart, signaling that bearish momentum remains dominant.  Could ETH fall to $1,350

05-21

Vitalik Buterin Backs New Ethereum Privacy Initiatives and EIP-8250

Ethereum  Vitalik Buterin Backs New Ethereum Privacy Initiatives and EIP-8250Vitalik Buterin backed new Ethereum privacy tools, including keyed nonces and FOCIL updates.EIP-8250 proposed independent replay domains for Ethereum privacy-based transactions.Ethereum developers said keyed nonces could improve concurrent privacy-based transactions.  Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin renewed discussion of Ethereum‘s long-term privacy roadmap after outlining several short-term initiatives to improve native privacy features across the network. His comments led to a debate across the Ethereum community, including discussions about transaction privacy, public goods funding, and Ethereum’s market valuation.  In a post on X, Buterin said Ethereum was moving toward stronger native privacy through several ongoing efforts. He pointed to account abstraction, FOCIL, keyed nonces, and access-layer developments such as Kohaku and private reads as areas currently under development.  The discussion followed the introduction of EIP-8250, titled “Keyed Nonces for Frame Transactions,” proposed by developers soispoke, nero_eth, lightclients, and Buterin. According to the proposal, the update would replace Ethereums existing single-sender nonce system with a structure using “nonce_key” and “nonce_seq.”  New Ethereum Proposal Targets Privacy Coordination  The proposal stated that keyed nonces would create independent replay domains for frame transactions. Developers involved in the discussion explained that the structure could allow privacy protocols to process concurrent withdrawals from a shared

05-21

Ethereum Bear Flag Eyes $1,000 With $1.7B Longs at Risk as Whales Cut Exposure

Ethereum  Ethereum Bear Flag Eyes $1,000 With $1.7B Longs at Risk as Whales Cut Exposure  A wave of senior departures from the Ethereum Foundation has reopened questions over the steward‘s leadership structure and how internal reshuffles will shape the network’s upgrade roadmap. Several high-profile contributors confirmed exits during a recent internal restructuring, prompting prominent community voices to demand clearer communication on responsibilities and direction. The foundation has long operated with a deliberately loose, decentralized model that supporters credit with preserving Ethereum‘s neutrality across the world’s second-largest blockchain. Critics counter that the approach now strains against expectations of an ecosystem securing hundreds of billions in value across staking, restaking and decentralized finance markets, where leadership clarity directly informs developer confidence and protocol coordination.  Vitalik Buterin argued that pairing artificial intelligence with formal verification techniques could meaningfully harden the security model that underpins Ethereum smart contracts. The co-founder framed the combination as a path to mathematically prove that contract logic behaves exactly as specified, eliminating broad classes of exploits that have drained billions from decentralized applications. AI agents, he suggested, could assist in generating proofs and identifying edge cases that human auditors routinely miss. The remarks landed as the industry digests a series of high-profile

05-21

Trump administration weighs AI model reviews as tech giants race to ship faster

The Trump administration is looking at a new order that would let US security agencies check powerful AI models before companies put them out for the public.  The plan came up in a White House briefing led by the Office of the National Cyber Director. The meeting included OpenAI, Anthropic, and Reflection AI, all private companies, so there are no stock tickers for them.  The order could be signed by Donald Trump as soon as Thursday. After the first mention, Trump is the name used here. The plan would set up a “voluntary framework” for companies building frontier AI systems.  Under that setup, AI firms would tell the US government before major launches. They could also give agencies access to advanced models up to 90 days before those models reach users.  Trump lets agencies check frontier AI systems before public launches  The AI section of the order will emphasize “covered frontier models,” which means that the government will first determine which AI technologies are sufficiently significant to receive additional review. This wont involve an examination in one particular office but rather several agencies who will evaluate models before their release.  The expected executive order will have two key provisions, one related to cybersecurity and another one

05-21

US Oil exports drain crude stockpiles – Bloomberg

Finance  US Oil exports drain crude stockpiles – Bloomberg  US crude stockpiles plunged as Oil exports began to empty domestic supply inventories, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.  The Middle East conflict increased demand for Oil produced in the US, triggering a decline of 17.8 million barrels, its lowest level in nearly a year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.  Worth noting that US Oil exports prevented a spike in crude prices. Recent data revealed that the US turned to a net exporter for the first time on record. Overseas crude shipments have averaged 5.3 million barrels per day this month and, if that pace continues, would set a new record.  The closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed buyers to seek alternative energy sources. The US has also released crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help mitigate the supply shock.

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