Everything web3, crypto, defi, degen
In brief Former California Assembly majority leader Ian Calderon has vowed to put Bitcoin on California’s balance sheet and back crypto payments for state programs as part of his bid for governor. Calderon previously pushed blockchain policy through AB 2658 and worked with the Satoshi Action Fund. Current bills, AB 1180 and AB 1052, stop…
In brief Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin praised Coinbase’s L2 network Base for “doing things the right way” by balancing centralized UX improvements with Ethereum’s decentralized security. Base has grown to hold $15 billion in assets since debuting in August 2023, though it peaked above $16 billion earlier this year. Critics argue Base’s centralized aspects could…
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has called for stronger safeguards around cryptocurrency ATMs, amid growing concerns that the machines have become a favoured tool for scammers preying on seniors.Lummis said she intends to address the problem in upcoming market structure legislation she is co-sponsoring with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).“This is something that has concerned me…
In brief The number of crypto millionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires are all up in the last year as asset prices have risen. Bitcoin’s rise played a big role, with Bitcoin millionaires jumping 70% as the asset made a new all-time high above $124,000. The count of Bitcoin centi-millionaires and billionaires also rose at least 55%…
In brief Researchers unveiled Delphi-2M in Nature, an AI that forecasts risk for 1,000+ diseases up to 20 years out. The model outperformed single-disease tools, predicting co-morbidities and generating synthetic health trajectories from medical records. Trained on UK Biobank and validated on 1.9M Danish health records, Delphi-2M shows promise but faces bias, privacy, and deployment…
In brief OpenAI CEO Sam Altman calls compute power the “fuel” driving AI models, revenue, and growth. 10 gigawatts of AI compute equals the power use of millions of homes, sparking energy concerns. Experts warn AI’s electricity and water demands could strain grids worldwide. Nvidia is betting big on the future of artificial intelligence, committing…
In brief Raivo “Rastaland” Plavnieks started livestreaming on Pump.fun to fund treatment for his rare form of cancer. On Sunday, a viewer suggested he should download a Steam game—but it hosted malware that was used to swipe Solana from his wallet. The crypto and online security community rallied behind the streamer to pump his token,…
In brief Google’s DeepMind updated its Frontier Safety Framework to track new “frontier risks.” The changes add shutdown resistance and persuasive ability to earlier categories like cyber misuse and biosecurity. The shift comes amid parallel moves by Anthropic and OpenAI, and growing regulatory focus in the U.S. and EU. In a recent red-team experiment, researchers…
In brief Plasma One will allow users to load the card with stablecoins and pay from their balance with a physical or virtual card. The new neobank is set to roll out after Plasma’s stablecoin-optimized layer-1 blockchain hits “mainnet beta” on September 25. Its card promises to offer 4% cashback on spending, over 10% yield…
In brief Prediction markets and DAOs are both all about coordination, Syndicate co-founder Ian Lee said. One is focused on human intelligence, while the other on human capital. Syndicate was once dedicated to providing infrastructure for DAOs. Prediction markets and decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, may be closer cousins than most people think, according to…
