Solana ETF Applicants Submit Updated SEC Filings With Staking

Seven ETF issuers filed amended S-1 forms for Solana exchange-traded funds with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, clarifying language that would enable them to stake their held SOL. The proposed ETFs from 21Shares, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, VanEck, and Canary Capital aim to offer investors exposure to Solana by directly tracking the altcoin.  The staking component would enable issuers to generate yield on the Solana held in their funds, allowing them...

Seven ETF issuers filed amended S-1 forms for Solana exchange-traded funds with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, clarifying language that would enable them to stake their held SOL. The proposed ETFs from 21Shares, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, VanEck, and Canary Capital aim to offer investors exposure to Solana by directly tracking the altcoin.  The staking component would enable issuers to generate yield on the Solana held in their funds, allowing them...

Public Keys: Circle Keeps Surging, GameStop's Bitcoin 'Black Box', Ethereum Treasury Tanks

Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. This week: Circle’s stock surged again to end the week while GameStop shares swoon after another bond offering—but SharpLink Gaming’s fall takes the cake. Circle stays hot The euphoria started to ebb, but the glossy announcements kept coming—and CRCL is surging again. After last week's massive launch, USDC issuer Circle has seen its stock reach new highs and then start to settle over the course of...

Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. This week: Circle’s stock surged again to end the week while GameStop shares swoon after another bond offering—but SharpLink Gaming’s fall takes the cake. Circle stays hot The euphoria started to ebb, but the glossy announcements kept coming—and CRCL is surging again. After last week's massive launch, USDC issuer Circle has seen its stock reach new highs and then start to settle over the course of...

Bitcoin Treasury Firm GameStop Boosts Convertible Bond Offering to $2.25 Billion

GameStop upsized its latest offering of convertible senior notes to $2.25 billion from $1.75 billion, the video game retailer said in a press release published late on Thursday. Shares dropped earlier this week after the Grapevine, Texas-based firm said that it would offer investors more convertible bonds, following a similar, $1.5 billion raise in April. Although GameStop shares held ground on Friday, they fell 24% throughout the week, closing at $22.14, according to Yahoo Finance. Shares chang...

GameStop upsized its latest offering of convertible senior notes to $2.25 billion from $1.75 billion, the video game retailer said in a press release published late on Thursday. Shares dropped earlier this week after the Grapevine, Texas-based firm said that it would offer investors more convertible bonds, following a similar, $1.5 billion raise in April. Although GameStop shares held ground on Friday, they fell 24% throughout the week, closing at $22.14, according to Yahoo Finance. Shares chang...

Elizabeth Warren, Consumer Groups Slam Walmart and Amazon Stablecoin Plans

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and leading consumer advocacy groups denounced a report Friday that Amazon and Walmart are considering issuing their own stablecoins, framing such developments as an unacceptable outcome of pending stablecoin legislation in the Senate. “Let’s not forget the GENIUS Act has a major loophole allowing Big Tech companies and major retailers to issue their own private currencies structured as stablecoins,” Warren said Friday in a statement shared with Decrypt. “If Congress...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and leading consumer advocacy groups denounced a report Friday that Amazon and Walmart are considering issuing their own stablecoins, framing such developments as an unacceptable outcome of pending stablecoin legislation in the Senate. “Let’s not forget the GENIUS Act has a major loophole allowing Big Tech companies and major retailers to issue their own private currencies structured as stablecoins,” Warren said Friday in a statement shared with Decrypt. “If Congress...

Gotbit Got Got: Founder Sentenced to Prison for Crypto Wash Trading

Crypto market maker Gotbit and its founder were sentenced Friday for using wash trading to falsely inflate the trading volume of meme coins on behalf of clients. Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley ordered Gotbit Consulting LLC to forfeit $23 million in seized cryptocurrency, with founder Aleksei Andriunin sentenced to eight months in prison and one year of supervised release. Both were charged in 2024 with market manipulation, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The charges were part o...

Crypto market maker Gotbit and its founder were sentenced Friday for using wash trading to falsely inflate the trading volume of meme coins on behalf of clients. Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley ordered Gotbit Consulting LLC to forfeit $23 million in seized cryptocurrency, with founder Aleksei Andriunin sentenced to eight months in prison and one year of supervised release. Both were charged in 2024 with market manipulation, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The charges were part o...

Meet Olto: The $3,500 E-Scooter Gunning to Be the iPhone of Micromobility

After launching a high-end, cyberpunk-style electric motorbike that costs more than some used cars, Andreessen Horowitz-funded Brooklyn startup Infinite Machine is finally getting practical. It just unveiled the Olto: a $3,495 electric scooter that looks like it escaped from an industrial designer’s mood board. (That's not surprising since the company was founded by brothers Joseph and Eddie Cohen, both erstwhile Apple employees.) It’s the second vehicle from Infinite Machine, whose first produc...

After launching a high-end, cyberpunk-style electric motorbike that costs more than some used cars, Andreessen Horowitz-funded Brooklyn startup Infinite Machine is finally getting practical. It just unveiled the Olto: a $3,495 electric scooter that looks like it escaped from an industrial designer’s mood board. (That's not surprising since the company was founded by brothers Joseph and Eddie Cohen, both erstwhile Apple employees.) It’s the second vehicle from Infinite Machine, whose first produc...

Dogecoin Leads Meme Coin Dive as Geopolitical Tensions Slam Crypto Market

The top meme coin by market cap, Dogecoin, is diving lower amid a broader market sell-off, dropping nearly 6% in the last 24 hours as tensions between Israel and Iran flare following Israel’s airstrikes late Thursday. The dog-themed meme coin leader is now trading below $0.178, down 23% over the last month and more than 75% from its all-time high of $0.73 in 2021.  The meme category as a whole is underperforming major assets, dropping 9.5% in the last 24 hours compared to 2.6% and 8% for Bitcoin...

The top meme coin by market cap, Dogecoin, is diving lower amid a broader market sell-off, dropping nearly 6% in the last 24 hours as tensions between Israel and Iran flare following Israel’s airstrikes late Thursday. The dog-themed meme coin leader is now trading below $0.178, down 23% over the last month and more than 75% from its all-time high of $0.73 in 2021.  The meme category as a whole is underperforming major assets, dropping 9.5% in the last 24 hours compared to 2.6% and 8% for Bitcoin...

Nobody Predicted Israel Would Strike Iran, But Bitcoin Is Still Not in Panic Mode: Analysis

The Middle East is again at war, with rising tensions between Israel and Iran spooking markets and sending prices for both traditional and crypto assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, tumbling to weekly lows. Is it time to panic for Bitcoin investors? The data currently doesn’t support that view. Bitcoin dropped 4.5% in the past 24 hours to trade at $104,343, while Ethereum crashed 8.2% to $2,552 as escalating Middle East tensions sparked a massive risk-off move across cryptocurrency markets. Th...

The Middle East is again at war, with rising tensions between Israel and Iran spooking markets and sending prices for both traditional and crypto assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, tumbling to weekly lows. Is it time to panic for Bitcoin investors? The data currently doesn’t support that view. Bitcoin dropped 4.5% in the past 24 hours to trade at $104,343, while Ethereum crashed 8.2% to $2,552 as escalating Middle East tensions sparked a massive risk-off move across cryptocurrency markets. Th...

Weeks Before Trial, Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Sounds Alarm: ‘If I Lose, DeFi Dies With Me’

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm issued one of his starkest rebukes yet of the Trump administration’s Department of Justice on Friday, arguing that if federal prosecutors prevail in the developer’s upcoming criminal trial, decentralized finance could be permanently destroyed.  “The DOJ wants to bury DeFi, saying I should’ve controlled it, added KYC, [and] never built it,” Storm wrote. “SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness.” “If I lose, DeFi dies with me,” the crypto devel...

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm issued one of his starkest rebukes yet of the Trump administration’s Department of Justice on Friday, arguing that if federal prosecutors prevail in the developer’s upcoming criminal trial, decentralized finance could be permanently destroyed.  “The DOJ wants to bury DeFi, saying I should’ve controlled it, added KYC, [and] never built it,” Storm wrote. “SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness.” “If I lose, DeFi dies with me,” the crypto devel...

SEC Names Crypto Industry Veteran as Trading and Markets Director

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new director of the trading and markets division is a crypto-native.  Wall Street's top regulator on Friday named Jamie Selway as new chief of the SEC department.  Selway previously worked at Blockchain.com and for Skew, a crypto analytics platform owned by Coinbase, according to his LinkedIn page. He also previously worked at Goldman Sachs, where he was an associate, and at Silvertrain AI. His most recent role was at Gradient, a financial services f...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new director of the trading and markets division is a crypto-native.  Wall Street's top regulator on Friday named Jamie Selway as new chief of the SEC department.  Selway previously worked at Blockchain.com and for Skew, a crypto analytics platform owned by Coinbase, according to his LinkedIn page. He also previously worked at Goldman Sachs, where he was an associate, and at Silvertrain AI. His most recent role was at Gradient, a financial services f...

SharpLink Gaming Buys $463 Million in Ethereum, Becomes Largest ETH Treasury Firm

SharpLink Gaming recently acquired $462 million worth of Ethereum, becoming the asset’s largest holder among public firms, according to a company blog post published on Friday.  The Nasdaq-listed online gambling marketer, which adopted an Ethereum treasury strategy in May, said that it had purchased roughly 176,000 ETH for an average price of $2,600 per coin. The price of Ethereum was recently changing hands around $2,500, an 8.8% decrease over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provide...

SharpLink Gaming recently acquired $462 million worth of Ethereum, becoming the asset’s largest holder among public firms, according to a company blog post published on Friday.  The Nasdaq-listed online gambling marketer, which adopted an Ethereum treasury strategy in May, said that it had purchased roughly 176,000 ETH for an average price of $2,600 per coin. The price of Ethereum was recently changing hands around $2,500, an 8.8% decrease over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provide...

Why Did Bitcoin Dip as Gold Surged Amid Israel-Iran Tensions?

Late Thursday evening, Israeli fighter jets struck Iranian nuclear facilities, opening a wave of instability across global markets, with two camps split on what to do: those running for shelter and those fleeing risk. Gold, long considered a safe haven, beckoned investors seeking safety from the escalating Middle East conflict. Bitcoin, often touted as digital gold, instead joined the exodus of risk assets. "The traditional buyers of gold are not in the crypto market yet,” Stephen Wundke, direc...

Late Thursday evening, Israeli fighter jets struck Iranian nuclear facilities, opening a wave of instability across global markets, with two camps split on what to do: those running for shelter and those fleeing risk. Gold, long considered a safe haven, beckoned investors seeking safety from the escalating Middle East conflict. Bitcoin, often touted as digital gold, instead joined the exodus of risk assets. "The traditional buyers of gold are not in the crypto market yet,” Stephen Wundke, direc...

Altcoins Plunge, Crypto Liquidations Hit $1B Amid Israel-Iran Tensions

Crypto prices have plunged in the wake of Israel's airstrikes on Iran, with major altcoins taking significant hits and liquidations passing $1 billion, as markets braced themselves for Iran's response. Ethereum has tanked 7.8% over the past 24 hours to $2,533, according to CoinGecko, while XRP dropped 3.9% to $2.13 and Solana 8.4% to $145. The best-performing assets in the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are both stablecoins holding their peg to the U.S. dollar—never a good sign...

Crypto prices have plunged in the wake of Israel's airstrikes on Iran, with major altcoins taking significant hits and liquidations passing $1 billion, as markets braced themselves for Iran's response. Ethereum has tanked 7.8% over the past 24 hours to $2,533, according to CoinGecko, while XRP dropped 3.9% to $2.13 and Solana 8.4% to $145. The best-performing assets in the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are both stablecoins holding their peg to the U.S. dollar—never a good sign...

Obama Campaign Strategist David Plouffe Joins Coinbase Advisory Council

David Plouffe, the Democratic strategist behind Barack Obama's historic 2008 presidential victory, has joined Coinbase's Global Advisory Council, marking the latest bipartisan power play by the crypto giant to secure political influence in Washington. The appointment, announced Thursday at Coinbase's State of Crypto Summit in New York, adds another high-profile political strategist to the exchange's expanding roster of advisors. Not only was @davidplouffe the architect of President Obama’s win...

David Plouffe, the Democratic strategist behind Barack Obama's historic 2008 presidential victory, has joined Coinbase's Global Advisory Council, marking the latest bipartisan power play by the crypto giant to secure political influence in Washington. The appointment, announced Thursday at Coinbase's State of Crypto Summit in New York, adds another high-profile political strategist to the exchange's expanding roster of advisors. Not only was @davidplouffe the architect of President Obama’s win...

Meta Invests $14 Billion in Scale AI to ‘Deepen’ its Work on Superintelligence

American multinational tech company Meta has made a significant investment in Scale AI, the data-labeling startup essential for training artificial intelligence systems, recruiting its young founder Alexandr Wang to build out a “superintelligence” lab focused on achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). The $14.3 billion investment acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI, raising its valuation to over $29 billion. This is Meta's second-largest investment, following its $19 billion WhatsApp acqui...

American multinational tech company Meta has made a significant investment in Scale AI, the data-labeling startup essential for training artificial intelligence systems, recruiting its young founder Alexandr Wang to build out a “superintelligence” lab focused on achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). The $14.3 billion investment acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI, raising its valuation to over $29 billion. This is Meta's second-largest investment, following its $19 billion WhatsApp acqui...

Thai Police Arrest Chinese Suspect in $6.1 Million Bitcoin Fraud Case

Thai immigration police arrested a Chinese fugitive at Don Mueang Airport Thursday morning as he attempted to flee to Singapore, ending a manhunt connected to millions in stolen Bitcoin. The man, Tianwei, was arrested at 6 a.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) on Thursday at the international departure terminal as he attempted to board Lion Air flight SL100, according to a report by local news outlet Khaosod English. The airport intercept ended a month-long manhunt that began when two Chinese victims repo...

Thai immigration police arrested a Chinese fugitive at Don Mueang Airport Thursday morning as he attempted to flee to Singapore, ending a manhunt connected to millions in stolen Bitcoin. The man, Tianwei, was arrested at 6 a.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) on Thursday at the international departure terminal as he attempted to board Lion Air flight SL100, according to a report by local news outlet Khaosod English. The airport intercept ended a month-long manhunt that began when two Chinese victims repo...

Coinbase Launches Bitcoin Rewards Card to Drive Subscriber Growth

On Thursday, Coinbase unveiled its first-ever branded credit card that rewards its holders in Bitcoin—a perk that could draw more customers to the crypto exchange's subscription service, Coinbase One.  The Coinbase One Card will offer up to 4% Bitcoin back on cardholders’ purchases. Launching this fall in partnership with American Express, the credit card will be available exclusively to U.S.-based Coinbase One customers. The subscription service touts zero trading fees and more robust staking...

On Thursday, Coinbase unveiled its first-ever branded credit card that rewards its holders in Bitcoin—a perk that could draw more customers to the crypto exchange's subscription service, Coinbase One.  The Coinbase One Card will offer up to 4% Bitcoin back on cardholders’ purchases. Launching this fall in partnership with American Express, the credit card will be available exclusively to U.S.-based Coinbase One customers. The subscription service touts zero trading fees and more robust staking...

Barbie, Hot Wheels Toy Maker to Use OpenAI Tech to Boost Productivity

Toy giant Mattel announced Thursday it will team up with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI to create the first AI-powered products from a major toy company, marking OpenAI's expansion beyond enterprise software into consumer entertainment. The collaboration will use OpenAI's technology to develop new products for Mattel's brands, with the companies' first AI-powered product expected to be announced later this year, as per an OpenAI statement. The deal also includes deploying ChatGPT Enterpris...

Toy giant Mattel announced Thursday it will team up with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI to create the first AI-powered products from a major toy company, marking OpenAI's expansion beyond enterprise software into consumer entertainment. The collaboration will use OpenAI's technology to develop new products for Mattel's brands, with the companies' first AI-powered product expected to be announced later this year, as per an OpenAI statement. The deal also includes deploying ChatGPT Enterpris...

Ripple, SEC Ask Court to Dissolve XRP Injunction, Release $125M in Escrow

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs have jointly asked a Manhattan federal court to dissolve a prior injunction and release $125 million currently held in escrow, according to a filing made Thursday in the Southern District of New York. Under the proposal, Ripple would pay a $50 million civil penalty to the SEC, with the remaining funds to be returned to the company. The filing marks a major step in ending a case that has stretched nearly four years and triggered wide industry...

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs have jointly asked a Manhattan federal court to dissolve a prior injunction and release $125 million currently held in escrow, according to a filing made Thursday in the Southern District of New York. Under the proposal, Ripple would pay a $50 million civil penalty to the SEC, with the remaining funds to be returned to the company. The filing marks a major step in ending a case that has stretched nearly four years and triggered wide industry...

Former NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal Agrees to Pay $1.8M to Settle FTX Suit

Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay out $1.8 million in a class action lawsuit alleging he helped promote the collapsed crypto exchange FTX. The retired NBA star initially settled the case in principle in April without admitting wrongdoing in a Florida federal court. Shortly after, several other cases against FTX-linked celebrities saw their claims narrowed, although investors were permitted to re-plead their claims.  The latest deal, if approved by the court, would officially end the class actio...

Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to pay out $1.8 million in a class action lawsuit alleging he helped promote the collapsed crypto exchange FTX. The retired NBA star initially settled the case in principle in April without admitting wrongdoing in a Florida federal court. Shortly after, several other cases against FTX-linked celebrities saw their claims narrowed, although investors were permitted to re-plead their claims.  The latest deal, if approved by the court, would officially end the class actio...