Author: James Wilson

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission kept Nasdaq PHLX’s proposed Bitcoin index options on hold after granting CME Group’s petition for a full Commission review.  Summary SEC commissioners granted CME’s petition, keeping Nasdaq’s Bitcoin index options approval stayed pending further order. Written statements supporting or opposing the approval must reach the SEC by August 24, 2026. CME argues Bitcoin index options are commodity swaps falling under the CFTC’s exclusive federal jurisdiction. The SEC issued the order on July 29, and its Aug. 3 publication in the Federal Register set Aug. 24 as the deadline for written statements supporting or opposing…

The CLARITY Act was absent from the U.S. Senate’s published schedule for Monday, Aug. 3, leaving lawmakers with only days to begin floor proceedings before the chamber’s summer break. Summary Monday’s Senate schedule lists only a spending vote, with no CLARITY Act floor action scheduled. Wednesday is the ordinary filing deadline for a possible Friday vote on proceeding to CLARITY. Seven Democratic votes remain crucial as ethics disputes and election pressure complicate bipartisan negotiations further. The official Monday schedule lists a 5:30 p.m. vote on cloture for the motion to proceed to H.R. 6500, a vehicle for a continuing resolution.…

BNB Chain said on Aug. 1 that it was pursuing legal action against a former employee who allegedly retained unauthorized access to a seed phrase and later used the associated wallet address with a new memecoin.  Summary BNB Chain says a former employee retained unauthorized seed phrase access after leaving the company. Four wallets allegedly bought 79.67% of ASTEROID’s supply for $10,000 before later selling most tokens. Lookonchain estimates 1,103 BNB in sales produced approximately $628,000 in profit for the alleged operator. The network said it was cooperating with authorities but did not identify the individual, jurisdiction, agency or court.…

Minnesota’s prediction market ban remained blocked on Aug. 2, one day after the law was scheduled to take effect.  Summary July 27 injunction keeps Kalshi and Polymarket operating while Minnesota’s preemption case continues in court. Walz barred state employees from using confidential information to trade prediction markets for private benefit. Fairshake reported $126.97 million cash on hand through June, amplifying crypto’s broader election influence nationwide. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez granted a preliminary injunction on July 27 to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Kalshi and Polymarket US. The order prevents Minnesota from enforcing its new statute against CFTC-registered designated contract…

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on Aug. 2 that the Coldcard security failure strengthens the case for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, especially for investors who want long-term price exposure without managing private keys.  Summary Galaxy traced 1,367.05 BTC across 4,585 addresses, valuing observed Coldcard losses near $88.6 million total. Balchunas argued institutional custody makes Bitcoin ETFs preferable for investors seeking only long-term price exposure. ETF investors avoid seed management but surrender direct ownership, payments, and round-the-clock Bitcoin network access. His comments followed Galaxy Research’s estimate that three suspected attack waves drained 1,367.05 BTC, worth about $88.6 million,…

Dogecoin community contributor Mishaboar urged Coldcard users on Aug. 1 to move their Bitcoin to wallets controlled by newly generated seed phrases.  Summary 1,367.05 BTC worth $88.6 million was drained from 4,585 addresses across three suspected attack waves. Coinkite says firmware updates protect new seeds but cannot repair seed phrases from vulnerable versions. Mishaboar advised users never to reuse affected seeds or enter recovery phrases into computers online. The warning followed Galaxy Research’s estimate that three suspected attack waves drained 1,367.05 BTC, worth about $88.6 million, from 4,585 addresses. Mishaboar wrote, “If you have ever used a COLDCARD device of…

Strategy Inc. kept the annual dividend rate on its STRC preferred stock at 12% for August 2026, even though the Nasdaq-listed security ended July more than 10% below its $100 stated amount. Summary 12% annualized dividend remains unchanged for August despite STRC closing July at $89.46 per share. $3.75 billion reserve covers roughly 2.1 years of preferred dividends and debt interest payments currently. Strategy repurchased 288,930 STRC shares below par while retaining $975 million in remaining authorization capacity. The company’s official STRC information page confirms that the variable annualized rate for record dates beginning in August remains 12%. Executive Chairman…

Trump Media & Technology Group’s Truth API became available to institutional customers on Aug. 1, giving trading firms rapid, machine-readable access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s account. Summary August 1 launch gives institutions millisecond access to influential Truth Social posts with continuous coverage. Schiff and Warren asked the SEC to investigate whether the paid feed violates securities laws. Trump’s trust holds 41% of Trump Media, linking the product’s revenue directly to his wealth. The launch followed a July 16 Form 8-K in which Trump Media said it had already signed customers and was…

Ripple Director of Engineering Vijay Khanna urged XRP Ledger node operators on Aug. 2 to install xrpld version 3.2.1 after developers observed a validator manifest flood on July 31.  Summary July 31 manifest flooding prompted xrpld 3.2.1 while XRP Ledger continued closing ledgers normally throughout. Four safeguards now cap manifest size, message batches, outbound sharing and unknown-key cache growth network-wide. Operators should upgrade, verify xrpld is running, then restart again to clear persisted manifests safely. The hotfix limits how nodes process, store and share data received from unknown validator identities.  The XRP Ledger continued closing ledgers normally during the event,…

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 can no longer reach its 55% voluntary miner threshold during the current difficulty period, according to blockchain signaling data and an Aug. 1 analysis from Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.  Summary 28 signaling blocks appeared among 1,108, leaving BIP-110 at 2.53% support as of Aug. 2. Saylor said all 24 initial signals came from DATUM miners sharing rewards through OCEAN’s system. Mandatory signaling starts at block 961,632, when enforcing nodes reject every non-signaling block as invalid. Strategy’s official website identifies Saylor as the company’s executive chairman. At block 960,561, Saylor counted 24 signaling blocks among 946,…