Author: James Wilson

Crypto exchange Luno is cutting about 20% of its global workforce as part of a restructuring confirmed on July 28 by Chief Executive James Lanigan.  Summary Luno is cutting 20% of its global workforce while expanding institutional and business-to-business services worldwide. Twelve crypto-related companies reported July restructurings, with 894 disclosed jobs affected across six named reductions. Gnosis reduced its consumer app team and plans an independent structure beginning during third quarter. The Digital Currency Group-owned company will reduce costs while directing more resources toward institutional customers and its business-to-business unit. Lanigan did not disclose the number of employees affected or…

Robinhood Markets reported record second-quarter revenue on July 29, as growth in event contracts, options and equities offset another decline in cryptocurrency trading. Summary Robinhood’s Q2 revenue rose 32% to a record $1.31 billion, while net income climbed 48%. Event contract revenue reached $156 million, rising more than 10x and overtaking cryptocurrency transaction revenue. Crypto revenue fell 38% to $100 million despite $40 billion in reported quarterly trading volume. According to its Q2 earnings release, total net revenue rose 32% year over year to $1.31 billion for the quarter ended June 30. Net income increased 48% to $573 million, while…

Exchanges advertise leverage the way carriers advertise data speeds, as a capability offered for your benefit. The arithmetic says something else. A venue earns on notional, so the slider that multiplies your position multiplies its revenue identically while collapsing your survival odds, and the deleveraging queue ranks you first for forced closure because the venue knows exactly which accounts are fragile. Summary Trading fees are charged on notional value, meaning the size of the position, not the collateral behind it, so a 50-times position generates 50 times the fee revenue from the same deposit. The trader’s outcome moves in the…

Every chain announcement leads with a transaction number. On a network charging $0.0002, 1 million transactions represents $200 of economic activity and a weekend of testing. The metric that headlines every milestone is the one that survives the least scrutiny, and the analytics platforms already know it. Summary Transaction counts are the most-cited blockchain metric and among the least informative, because a count measures events, not value, and says nothing about what those events were worth. On networks with fees measured in fractions of a cent, the cost of generating enormous counts is trivial, so testing, scripts, and incentive farming…

Prediction market guides explain how contracts resolve and pay. Almost none explain what happens when a market never gets that far, because it was voided, suspended by a court, renamed mid-life, or pulled by the exchange. The answers live in rulebooks and incident history, and they differ enough to matter. Summary A prediction market can end without a normal resolution in at least four ways: the exchange voids it, a regulator or court forces suspension, the contract’s terms are altered mid-life, or the venue withdraws a self-certified product under pressure. Voiding is the cleanest outcome and generally means positions are…

A federal judge has rejected the CFTC’s request to stop Wisconsin from enforcing state gambling laws against federally regulated prediction market platforms. Summary Judge William Griesbach denied the CFTC’s request for a preliminary injunction against Wisconsin. The court found sports event contracts may fall within Wisconsin’s commercial gambling laws. Wisconsin is pursuing cases against Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase. The CFTC plans to appeal the ruling and continue defending its claimed jurisdiction. Wisconsin court rejects CFTC injunction Judge William Griesbach of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s attempt to…

Freehand has raised $75 million to expand AI agents that handle invoices, supplier negotiations, payments, and other supply-chain tasks for large companies. Summary Battery Ventures and NewRoad Capital Partners co-led the $75 million funding round. Freehand says its agents are deployed at Meta, Unilever, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. Customers recovered 5% to 10% of spending in some categories, according to company data. The startup will expand beyond invoice management into broader supply-chain operations. Freehand secures $75 million from US investors Battery Ventures and NewRoad Capital Partners co-led the round, with Nexus Venture Partners and PSP Growth also participating. Former…

Aviva Investors has launched a tokenized share class of its US Dollar Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger, moving its Ripple partnership into production. Summary Aviva Investors launched its first tokenized fund structure on the XRP Ledger. The Ireland-domiciled fund received Central Bank of Ireland approval for its new share class. Eligible investors can access the fund through digital wallets while BNY Mellon holds the underlying assets. XRP Ledger hosts approximately $4.37 billion in distributed and represented real-world assets. Aviva brings its USD liquidity fund to XRPL Aviva Investors and Ripple announced the launch on July 29, following a tokenization…

OSL Digital Securities has opened XRP trading to retail investors in Hong Kong, creating a regulated fiat on-ramp as US lawmakers continue debating federal crypto market rules. Summary OSL became Hong Kong’s first SFC-licensed platform to offer direct retail spot access to XRP. Retail users can access XRP/USD through Flash Trade and XRP/USD and XRP/HKD through OTC trading. XRP joins Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana among assets available to OSL’s retail clients. The launch follows XRP’s December 2025 listing for professional investors on the same platform. OSL opens XRP trading to Hong Kong retail investors OSL Digital Securities launched retail XRP…

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought about $40.2 million in Tesla, SpaceX and Nvidia shares on July 28 as a global technology sell-off hit AI and semiconductor stocks. Summary ARK Invest purchased 40,281 Tesla shares worth about $12.38 million across four ETFs. The firm added 105,108 SpaceX shares, valued at approximately $12.24 million. Five ARK funds bought 78,965 Nvidia shares worth roughly $15.56 million. ARK also invested about $32,667 in the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF. ARK Invest adds Tesla, SpaceX and Nvidia shares ARK Invest spread its Tesla purchases across four exchange-traded funds, according to the firm’s daily trade disclosures. The…