• Aug 15, 2024

Mastercard Is Betting on Crypto—But Not Stablecoins

Mastercard is all-in on blockchain. Earlier this week, the payments giant launched a debit card with MetaMask that allows holders to spend self-custodied tokens at any store or site where Mastercard is accepted (see: almost everywhere).   “We’re opening up this crypto purchase power to our 100 million-plus acceptance locations,” Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's head of crypto and blockchain, told Decrypt. “If consumers want to buy into it, if they want to be able to use it, we want to enable that—i...

• Aug 15, 2024

Trump Taps Bitcoin, Tether Bull Howard Lutnick for Transition Team

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has named Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as co-chair of his transition team ahead of the presidential election in November—and Lutnick is a big Bitcoin bull. Trump's campaign made the announcement Friday, also noting that Linda McMahon—the former administrator of the Small Business Administration—would serve as co-chair alongside Lutnick. Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance will serve as an honorary chair alongside Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. Tran...

• Aug 15, 2024

$5.1 Billion in Illicit Crypto Transactions Linked to UK Every Year: NCA

A new report from the UK's National Crime Agency has found that as much as $5.1 billion worth of illicit crypto transactions are linked to the country every year, with both digital and crypto related crime on the rise. The agency's findings were published in its annual National Strategic Assessment, which draws on data from law enforcement, government, and private intelligence. “As the popularity of cryptocurrency grows, so too does the frequency of cryptocurrency crime,” the report stated. The...

• Aug 15, 2024

Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Ramps Up Indirect Exposure to Bitcoin

The average Norwegian “owns” $27 worth of Bitcoin indirectly as of the first half 2024, thanks to investments made by the country’s sovereign wealth fund. According to K33Research, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (NBIM) now has indirect exposure to 2,446 BTC through investments in tech firms with exposure to the cryptocurrency. Its “holdings,” worth just over $143 million, have increased by 938 BTC since December 31, 2023. The $1.7 trillion Norges Bank Investment Management fund invests the...

• Aug 15, 2024

Donald Trump Owns Millions of Dollars in Ethereum, Filing Reveals

Former president Donald Trump holds over a million dollars worth of Ethereum, according to a financial disclosure obtained by watchdog Citizens for Ethics. Per his disclosure, the Republican presidential nominee holds anywhere from $1 million to $5 million in his “cryptocurrency wallet virtual ethereum key,” in a hardware wallet. Trump has also brought in over $7.15 million from an NFT license agreement.  According to Arkham Intelligence, Trump holds $3.6 million worth of cryptocurrency in hi...

• Aug 15, 2024

Nasdaq, NYSE Withdraw Bitcoin ETF Options Applications

Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) have withdrawn their applications to list and trade options based on two U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Per an August 14 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the NYSE has withdrawn the proposed rule change that would enable it to list and trade options on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The proposal was originally published for public comment in February, with the SEC extending its review period in April a...

• Aug 15, 2024

Crypto Criminals Shift Focus to Centralized Exchanges, Chainalysis Report Reveals

Crypto criminals are increasingly targeting centralized exchanges, having made off with more than $1.5 billion in the first half of the year, according to a mid-year report by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.  It marks a significant shift after four years of heightened focus on decentralized platforms. The report attributes this change to the growing sophistication of attackers, who are now employing advanced social engineering tactics.  Chainalysis highlighted that some attackers, includin...

• Aug 15, 2024

IMF Calls for Increased Electricity Taxes on Crypto Miners, AI Data Centers

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund said an increase in electricity taxes for crypto miners by as much as 85% could play a significant role in curbing global carbon emissions, as the organization continues to sound off warnings relating to the industry.   That’s despite smaller operations struggling to turn a profit following Bitcoin’s halving event in April, which has placed increasing pressure on miners to find more efficient ways to operate. “Such a levy would raise annual government...

• Aug 15, 2024

Can Grok-2 Beat ChatGPT and Claude in Writing and Coding?

Just a few days after OpenAI announced its latest version of ChatGPT-4o, Elon Musk’s xAI released an update to its Grok model. The headline-grabbing feature was its AI image generator—based on Flux from Black Forest Labs—and our tests found it to be pretty impressive. Perhaps more impressive, though, were xAI's claims that its brand new LLM, the text-based generative AI chatbot, outperforms Claude 3.5 Sonnet from Anthropic. Claude long dominated the space until recently, and the flip seemed unli...

• Aug 15, 2024

Stablecoin Regulations Could Pose Problems for Tether, JPMorgan Says; USDT Issuer Claims Sour Grapes

Stablecoin issuer Tether has attracted regulatory scrutiny in the past due to its lack of transparency about the composition of its reserves, the JPMorgan report said.