Crypto

The initiative is aimed at modernizing payment infrastructure and reducing settlement risk, Marex said.

The short-term outlook for Bitcoin remained cautious, with a possibility of a trip toward $105,000, which one analyst called a “hidden danger zone” for BTC price. Key takeaways: Bitcoin onchain metrics converge around $105,000, signaling a hidden risk zone. Elevated open interest keeps BTC’s market structure at risk of sudden volatility. Read more

UK-listed Smarter Web Company raised $21 million via Bitcoin-denominated bonds, backed by Tobam, offering a new model for crypto-aligned fundraising. The Smarter Web Company, a publicly traded UK-based company holding Bitcoin on its corporate balance sheet, raised $21 million through a Bitcoin-denominated bond offering, marking a rare move in British capital markets. In a Wednesday London Stock Exchange announcement, The Smarter Web Company disclosed it had launched a Bitcoin-denominated bond that has already raised 15.8 million British pounds ($21 million). The bond was offered in a fully subscribed round backed by the French asset management giant Tobam. The new product, “Smarter Convert,” was designed in partnership with Tobam, with the French company investing through three of its managed funds. Tobam CEO Yves Choueifaty said that the company “is driven by a commitment to long-term alignment.” Read more

Crypto scammers are switching from code to exploiting human vulnerabilities that don’t require breaking through complex cybersecurity guardrails. A cryptocurrency investor lost $3 million in a phishing scam after signing a malicious blockchain transaction without verifying the contract address, highlighting the risk posed by digital asset scams. A single wrong click was all it took to drain $3 million worth of USDt (USDT) from an investor who failed to verify the contract address before signing the blockchain transaction. “Someone fell victim to a phishing attack, signed a malicious transfer, and lost 3.05M $USDT,” according to a Wednesday X post from blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain. “Stay alert, stay safe. One wrong click can drain your wallet. Never sign a transaction you don’t fully understand.” Read more

The Payments Association’s Riccardo Tordera told Cointelegraph that lifting the ETN ban allowed individual investors to make their own choices at their own risk. The United Kingdom’s financial regulator lifted a ban on crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs) for retail investors in a move welcomed by industry leaders as a step toward aligning the UK with global crypto markets as a digital asset hub. On Friday, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reversed the ban on retail access to cETNs, with regulatory changes taking effect from Oct. 8. The ban was enforced in January 2021, citing extreme volatility and “lack of legitimate investment need.”  Lifting the cETN ban reflects a change in the regulator’s approach to crypto assets. In a statement, an FCA executive said the decision reflected how the market had evolved and how crypto-related products are better understood. Read more

South Korea’s BDACS has rolled out institutional custody support for XRP, following its partnership with Ripple and integration with top South Korean exchanges. South Korean crypto custodian BDACS has launched institutional custody support for XRP following its February partnership agreement with Ripple. The move provides institutions with regulated access to one of the world’s most actively traded digital assets. The rollout, announced via BDACS’s X account on Tuesday, enables institutions to securely store and manage XRP (XRP) using Ripple Custody, Ripple’s enterprise-grade custody solution. “We’re thrilled to offer custody support for XRP, one of the most popular digital assets in Korea, to our institutional clients,” BDACS wrote. “This launch strengthens our long-standing partnership with Ripple and underscores our commitment to the Korean market.” Read more

CZ argued that a Delaware court has no authority over him in a case tied to 2021 crypto transfers from Sam Bankman-Fried.

China’s security agency warned that biometric data collection by crypto firms, including iris scans, may endanger personal privacy and be exploited for espionage. China warned of the increasing use of biometric data by crypto-linked projects, cautioning that iris-scanning programs operating under the guise of digital asset distribution may threaten personal privacy and even national security. In a public security bulletin published Wednesday, China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) outlined several emerging risks associated with biometric recognition technologies, including facial, fingerprint and iris data collection. The MSS cited an unidentified overseas company that, “under the guise of issuing cryptocurrency tokens, scanned and collected iris information from users worldwide and then transferred the data source.” Officials said this posed “a threat to personal information security and even national security.” Read more

Michigan’s state pension fund tripled its exposure to Bitcoin in Q2, signaling growing institutional adoption despite recent ETF outflows.

Chirag Tomar, convicted in the U.S. for a $20M crypto scam using fake Coinbase websites, ran a phishing network targeting global victims.

Bitcoin’s August rebound faces resistance as long-term holders cash out and institutional sentiment begins to cool for the month.

Federal agents seized plans to skirt export laws using false documents and shipments to Singapore and Malaysia.

Fischer’s claim that liquid staking could trigger a Lehman-style collapse sparked ire from crypto leaders, who say the risks are overstated.

As crypto equity markets become overcrowded and illiquid, Architect bets on building a Moody's-like credit rating system to unlock new pools of institutional capital.

BDACS launches XRP custody for institutions in Korea, deepening Ripple partnership and boosting regulatory alignment for XRP’s global institutional use.

Base blamed a 33-minute outage on Aug. 5 on an unprepared sequencer and said it has fixed the issue to ensure any chosen sequencer will be ready to process transactions. Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Base stopped producing blocks for 33 minutes on Tuesday after switching to a backup sequencer that wasn’t set up properly to process transactions. The incident began at 6:07 am UTC when the active sequencer started falling behind on block production, prompting Conductor — Base’s system for managing sequencer availability and reliability — to switch sequencers. However, it switched to an “unhealthy mainnet sequencer” that was still being set up and thus wasn’t able to produce blocks, Base Build’s X account said in a post on Tuesday. Read more

Institutions may now have a clearer footing to build products around liquid staking tokens and unlock new market segments, according to industry executives. The crypto industry is hailing the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest guidance on liquid staking as a rare regulatory win, with stakeholders calling it a major step forward for decentralized finance and institutional adoption of digital assets. Released Tuesday, the SEC staff issued a guidance on liquid staking, writing that under certain conditions, liquid staking activities and the receipt tokens they generate do not constitute securities offerings. “Institutions can now confidently integrate LSTs into their products which is sure to drive new revenue streams, expand customer bases, and enable the creation of secondary markets for staked assets,” Mara Schmiedt, CEO of blockchain developer company Alluvial told Cointelegraph. Read more

Fresh US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff guidance on liquid staking is stoking expectations that US regulators will soon allow staking within spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Co-founder of The ETF Institute Nate Geraci called the guidance “the last hurdle” before the SEC can approve staking in spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs. Furthermore, he noted […] The post SEC liquid staking guidance clears ‘last hurdle’ for staking in spot crypto ETFs appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The new product gives builders the infrastructure to seamlessly integrate wallets into their apps.

Charles Hoskinson said the issue was flagged in July, but Ledger has yet to provide an update.