Quarter Billion in Ethereum Shorts Get Rekt as ETH Nears All-Time High

Ethereum short traders lost hundreds of millions of dollars Friday as ETH came within inches of breaking past its all-time high price, but ultimately failed to rise to the occasion. In the last 24 hours alone, over $259 million worth of ETH short positions have been liquidated, according to data from CoinGlass. Another $80 million in long positions on the cryptocurrency have expired as well—bringing the total value of ETH liquidations in the last day to over $340 million. That figure makes up ov...

Ethereum short traders lost hundreds of millions of dollars Friday as ETH came within inches of breaking past its all-time high price, but ultimately failed to rise to the occasion. In the last 24 hours alone, over $259 million worth of ETH short positions have been liquidated, according to data from CoinGlass. Another $80 million in long positions on the cryptocurrency have expired as well—bringing the total value of ETH liquidations in the last day to over $340 million. That figure makes up ov...

Chipotle Launches 'Zipotle' Drone Deliveries in Texas

Your triple steak, double rice, extra queso monster is now cleared for takeoff. Well, at least in one Texas town: Chipotle just announced that it’s teaming with Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery company, to bring digital orders straight to customers’ homes in the Dallas area. The pilot program, “Zipotle,” kicks off this week with a small group of early access users before a wider rollout in the coming weeks. Customers in Rowlett, Texas can order Chipotle through the Zipline app. Once the foo...

Your triple steak, double rice, extra queso monster is now cleared for takeoff. Well, at least in one Texas town: Chipotle just announced that it’s teaming with Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery company, to bring digital orders straight to customers’ homes in the Dallas area. The pilot program, “Zipotle,” kicks off this week with a small group of early access users before a wider rollout in the coming weeks. Customers in Rowlett, Texas can order Chipotle through the Zipline app. Once the foo...

Coinbase, Strategy Lead Crypto Stock Rebound as Bitcoin and Ethereum Soar

Crypto-focused company stocks rose Friday alongside digital coins following a more dovish-than-expected speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.  Nasdaq-listed Coinbase (COIN) spiked and was recently trading more than 6% higher on the day at $319. Meanwhile, Bitcoin treasury and software firm Strategy—MSTR—was up by nearly 65 to $354. Both had been trading down in recent days, but COIN is now in the green over the past week while MSTR remains slightly down during the span. And Circle,...

Crypto-focused company stocks rose Friday alongside digital coins following a more dovish-than-expected speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.  Nasdaq-listed Coinbase (COIN) spiked and was recently trading more than 6% higher on the day at $319. Meanwhile, Bitcoin treasury and software firm Strategy—MSTR—was up by nearly 65 to $354. Both had been trading down in recent days, but COIN is now in the green over the past week while MSTR remains slightly down during the span. And Circle,...

Ethereum, Bitcoin Spike After Powell Signals Interest Rate Cut

The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the possibility of an interest rate cut in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Within 15 minutes of Powell’s speech starting, Bitcoin jumped above $114,700 from $112,000, a nearly 2.5% gain, while Ethereum surged to $4,600 from $4,300, an almost 7% increase, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Both cryptocurrencies remained down 2.9% and 1.4%, respectively, over the past week. By the...

The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the possibility of an interest rate cut in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Within 15 minutes of Powell’s speech starting, Bitcoin jumped above $114,700 from $112,000, a nearly 2.5% gain, while Ethereum surged to $4,600 from $4,300, an almost 7% increase, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Both cryptocurrencies remained down 2.9% and 1.4%, respectively, over the past week. By the...

Bitcoin ETFs Shed $1 Billion in Five Days Amid Ethereum Comeback

Bitcoin ETFs continued their five-day streak of outflows, shedding over $1.1 billion in the past week as investors de-risk ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s final address at Friday’s Jackson Hole symposium. This widespread sell-off in risk-on assets has coincided with a 10% crash in Bitcoin’s price since its August 14 all-time high of $124,545. U.S. equities have also suffered a similar fate, with the S&P 500 index down 1.72% since its own high on August 13. The large-scale...

Bitcoin ETFs continued their five-day streak of outflows, shedding over $1.1 billion in the past week as investors de-risk ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s final address at Friday’s Jackson Hole symposium. This widespread sell-off in risk-on assets has coincided with a 10% crash in Bitcoin’s price since its August 14 all-time high of $124,545. U.S. equities have also suffered a similar fate, with the S&P 500 index down 1.72% since its own high on August 13. The large-scale...

Morning Minute: Coinbase CEO Calls for Bitcoin to Hit $1 Million

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack. GM! Today's top news: Crypto majors mostly red heading into Jackson Hole; BTC -1% at $112,300 MetaMask introduces new stablecoin mUSD, to launch on ETH + Linea Plasma’s XPL debuts at $0.45 on Hyperliquid pre-market, 9x from July presale XCOPY piece ‘Death Wannabe’ sells for $475,000 Kanye token...

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack. GM! Today's top news: Crypto majors mostly red heading into Jackson Hole; BTC -1% at $112,300 MetaMask introduces new stablecoin mUSD, to launch on ETH + Linea Plasma’s XPL debuts at $0.45 on Hyperliquid pre-market, 9x from July presale XCOPY piece ‘Death Wannabe’ sells for $475,000 Kanye token...

1,200 Criminals Arrested in Crypto Clampdown: Interpol

Interpol has arrested more than 1,200 cybercriminals who have collectively targeted 88,000 victims—including through cryptocurrency scams. A "sweeping" effort saw 18 African countries and the U.K. unite for Operation Serengeti 2.0, with more than $97.4 million confiscated as a result. In Angola, 25 crypto mining centers were dismantled, amid allegations that 60 Chinese nationals had been illegally validating blockchain transactions and earning digital assets as a result. Officials say mining equ...

Interpol has arrested more than 1,200 cybercriminals who have collectively targeted 88,000 victims—including through cryptocurrency scams. A "sweeping" effort saw 18 African countries and the U.K. unite for Operation Serengeti 2.0, with more than $97.4 million confiscated as a result. In Angola, 25 crypto mining centers were dismantled, amid allegations that 60 Chinese nationals had been illegally validating blockchain transactions and earning digital assets as a result. Officials say mining equ...

BlockFi Judge Urged to Approve $13 Million Settlement as Last Objector Withdraws

A $13.2 million class action settlement for BlockFi investors moved closer to approval after the sole remaining objector abandoned his challenge. That could remove the final hurdle for compensation to thousands who lost access to funds when the crypto lender imploded in 2022. Attorneys for lead plaintiffs filed a letter on Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi, confirming that Yacov Baron had withdrawn both his motion to intervene and his objections to the proposed deal. “Rapid resolu...

A $13.2 million class action settlement for BlockFi investors moved closer to approval after the sole remaining objector abandoned his challenge. That could remove the final hurdle for compensation to thousands who lost access to funds when the crypto lender imploded in 2022. Attorneys for lead plaintiffs filed a letter on Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi, confirming that Yacov Baron had withdrawn both his motion to intervene and his objections to the proposed deal. “Rapid resolu...

US House Slips CBDC Ban Into Defence Spending Bill

House Republicans have added a provision banning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) into a 1,300 page bill which lays out defense spending and priorities for the next financial year. The amendment, included in bill H.R. 3838, would prohibit the Federal Reserve from testing, developing or implementing a CBDC under any label. It adds an exception for "any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private, and fully preserves the privacy protections of United States coins a...

House Republicans have added a provision banning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) into a 1,300 page bill which lays out defense spending and priorities for the next financial year. The amendment, included in bill H.R. 3838, would prohibit the Federal Reserve from testing, developing or implementing a CBDC under any label. It adds an exception for "any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private, and fully preserves the privacy protections of United States coins a...

Ripple and SBI to Launch RLUSD Stablecoin in Japan by Early 2026

Ripple and SBI Holdings are preparing to launch the RLUSD stablecoin in Japan by early next year, as the country’s freshly crafted stablecoin laws open its market to foreign issuers. The joint move was signed under a memorandum of understanding that will see Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin distributed in Japan through SBI VC Trade, the group’s licensed crypto exchange, Ripple announced late Thursday evening. Ripple’s entry would help step up the “reliability and convenience of stablecoins in the Japan...

Ripple and SBI Holdings are preparing to launch the RLUSD stablecoin in Japan by early next year, as the country’s freshly crafted stablecoin laws open its market to foreign issuers. The joint move was signed under a memorandum of understanding that will see Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin distributed in Japan through SBI VC Trade, the group’s licensed crypto exchange, Ripple announced late Thursday evening. Ripple’s entry would help step up the “reliability and convenience of stablecoins in the Japan...

Crypto Scam Sites Make Up a Fifth of ASIC’s Two-Year Takedown

Australia’s securities regulator has taken down more than 14,000 scam and phishing websites over the past two years, with crypto schemes accounting for about one-fifth of the total, it said Thursday. ASIC said it will expand its investment scam website takedown capability to include social media advertisements, in efforts to protect Australian consumers from increasingly sophisticated online fraud schemes. Roughly 3,015 crypto scam websites have been removed, the regulator said. “ASIC could play...

Australia’s securities regulator has taken down more than 14,000 scam and phishing websites over the past two years, with crypto schemes accounting for about one-fifth of the total, it said Thursday. ASIC said it will expand its investment scam website takedown capability to include social media advertisements, in efforts to protect Australian consumers from increasingly sophisticated online fraud schemes. Roughly 3,015 crypto scam websites have been removed, the regulator said. “ASIC could play...

Two Bitcoin Price Levels Sophisticated Traders Are Watching Out For

Bitcoin traders are closely monitoring two price levels as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell prepares to deliver his highly anticipated address at Jackson Hole on Friday. The options market is currently sending mixed signals, with data suggesting a defensive posture even as a potential for another rally in the second half of this year remains. A negative 25 Delta Skew suggests traders are paying more for call options—or the right to buy at a certain strike price—reflecting a tilt towar...

Bitcoin traders are closely monitoring two price levels as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell prepares to deliver his highly anticipated address at Jackson Hole on Friday. The options market is currently sending mixed signals, with data suggesting a defensive posture even as a potential for another rally in the second half of this year remains. A negative 25 Delta Skew suggests traders are paying more for call options—or the right to buy at a certain strike price—reflecting a tilt towar...

CFTC Opens Next Phase of Crypto Sprint, Seeks Public Input on Broader Rules

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is proceeding with the third phase of its "crypto sprint," a series of accelerated rulemaking efforts designed to implement recommendations from the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. "The Administration has made it clear that enabling immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal level is a top priority," acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham wrote in a statement on Thursday. The CFTC's latest sprint expands beyond spot crypto trading to...

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is proceeding with the third phase of its "crypto sprint," a series of accelerated rulemaking efforts designed to implement recommendations from the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. "The Administration has made it clear that enabling immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal level is a top priority," acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham wrote in a statement on Thursday. The CFTC's latest sprint expands beyond spot crypto trading to...

Microsoft AI Chief Warns Society Isn’t Ready for 'Conscious' Machines

Microsoft’s AI chief and co-founder of DeepMind, warned Tuesday that engineers are close to creating artificial intelligence that convincingly mimics human consciousness—and the public is unprepared for the fallout. In a blog post, Mustafa Suleyman said developers are on the verge of building what he calls “Seemingly Conscious” AI. These systems imitate consciousness so effectively that people may start to believe they are truly sentient, something he called a “central worry.”  “Many people wil...

Microsoft’s AI chief and co-founder of DeepMind, warned Tuesday that engineers are close to creating artificial intelligence that convincingly mimics human consciousness—and the public is unprepared for the fallout. In a blog post, Mustafa Suleyman said developers are on the verge of building what he calls “Seemingly Conscious” AI. These systems imitate consciousness so effectively that people may start to believe they are truly sentient, something he called a “central worry.”  “Many people wil...

Crypto Gaming Handheld Shipments Delayed Over 'Excessive' Import Duties

Eager gamers keen to get their hands on the latest crypto gaming handheld from Mysten Labs are being greeted with unexpected import duties, potentially amounting to hundreds of dollars. Early buyers of the SuiPlay0X1 are staring down the consequences of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” on global partners as the White House’s trade policy begins to bite. Mysten Labs has confirmed to Decrypt that it is holding the next shipment of devices as it attempts to triage complaints from buyer...

Eager gamers keen to get their hands on the latest crypto gaming handheld from Mysten Labs are being greeted with unexpected import duties, potentially amounting to hundreds of dollars. Early buyers of the SuiPlay0X1 are staring down the consequences of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” on global partners as the White House’s trade policy begins to bite. Mysten Labs has confirmed to Decrypt that it is holding the next shipment of devices as it attempts to triage complaints from buyer...

AI Now Matches Prediction Markets in Forecasting Real Events, Study Finds

A new artificial intelligence benchmark launched in August shows that AI models can forecast real-world events as accurately as prediction markets—and sometimes better, according to researchers at the University of Chicago's SIGMA Lab. Prophet Arena evaluates AI systems by having them predict the outcomes of live, unresolved events drawn from platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket—ranging from election results to sports matches and economic indicators. Unlike traditional benchmarks that test model...

A new artificial intelligence benchmark launched in August shows that AI models can forecast real-world events as accurately as prediction markets—and sometimes better, according to researchers at the University of Chicago's SIGMA Lab. Prophet Arena evaluates AI systems by having them predict the outcomes of live, unresolved events drawn from platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket—ranging from election results to sports matches and economic indicators. Unlike traditional benchmarks that test model...

OCC Cites 'Safety and Soundness' for Crypto Bank Anchorage in Pulling Consent Order

The Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) announced Thursday that it has terminated its cease and desist consent order against Anchorage Digital. The regulator first issued a consent order to Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank, in 2022 due to its “failure to adopt and implement a compliance program” that satisfactorily covered the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.  “The OCC believes that the safety and soundness of the bank and its compliance w...

The Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) announced Thursday that it has terminated its cease and desist consent order against Anchorage Digital. The regulator first issued a consent order to Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank, in 2022 due to its “failure to adopt and implement a compliance program” that satisfactorily covered the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.  “The OCC believes that the safety and soundness of the bank and its compliance w...

Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Faces 5 Years for a Crime DOJ Now Says It Won’t Prosecute

A top Department of Justice official told an audience of crypto industry leaders Thursday that the U.S. government will no longer charge decentralized software developers with a particular crime—the same crime federal prosecutors successfully convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm of earlier this month.  The charge, U.S. code 1960(b)(1)(C), prohibits operators of unlicensed money transmitting businesses from dealing in funds known to have been derived from a crime, or intended to be used...

A top Department of Justice official told an audience of crypto industry leaders Thursday that the U.S. government will no longer charge decentralized software developers with a particular crime—the same crime federal prosecutors successfully convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm of earlier this month.  The charge, U.S. code 1960(b)(1)(C), prohibits operators of unlicensed money transmitting businesses from dealing in funds known to have been derived from a crime, or intended to be used...

Bitcoin Investor Loses $91 Million to Social Engineering Scam: ZachXBT

A crypto investor lost 783 Bitcoin—valued at $91 million at the time of the attack—on Tuesday after falling victim to a social engineering scam, according to the pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. The investigator said in a message on Telegram that the victim was approached by individuals impersonating customer support representatives for a hardware wallet manufacturer and a cryptocurrency exchange. The investigator did not identify the impersonated companies in question. As of this writing...

A crypto investor lost 783 Bitcoin—valued at $91 million at the time of the attack—on Tuesday after falling victim to a social engineering scam, according to the pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. The investigator said in a message on Telegram that the victim was approached by individuals impersonating customer support representatives for a hardware wallet manufacturer and a cryptocurrency exchange. The investigator did not identify the impersonated companies in question. As of this writing...

Moon or Doom: XRP Market Flips Bearish—Is It Over?

What a difference a week has made for XRP. Just last week, it looked like the stars were aligning for members of the XRP Army. The Ripple-linked token had just come off an all-time high price of $3.65—a record that had stood for eight long years—and the bullish vibes were back. Now? Not so much. On Myriad, a prediction market created by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, users last week placed the odds of XRP hitting $4 at 66%. Fast forward to today, and those odds have collapsed to a coin flip: 5...

What a difference a week has made for XRP. Just last week, it looked like the stars were aligning for members of the XRP Army. The Ripple-linked token had just come off an all-time high price of $3.65—a record that had stood for eight long years—and the bullish vibes were back. Now? Not so much. On Myriad, a prediction market created by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, users last week placed the odds of XRP hitting $4 at 66%. Fast forward to today, and those odds have collapsed to a coin flip: 5...