Everything web3, crypto, defi, degen
In brief SEC decisions on applications for spot altcoin ETFs are on hold during the government closure. Analysts have been expecting the agency to approve Solana funds early this month. The regulator is weighing more than 90 applications for funds tracking different cryptos, combinations of tokens and digital asset strategies. Investors expecting U.S. Securities and…
In brief House Republicans have informed current SEC Chair Paul Atkins that they’re investigating the loss of nearly a year of text messages from former Chair Gary Gensler’s smartphone. Last month, the Office of the Inspector General report found IT staff failures and poor policies led to the permanent deletion of messages from October 2022…
In brief Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, told Decrypt at Token2049 in Singapore that AI tools once limited to security firms are now accessible to groups like Lazarus, enabling massive attacks. Bug bounties have paid out over $100 million but have “hit the limits” as there aren’t “enough eyeballs” to provide necessary coverage, he said…
In brief President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing the NIH to spend $50 million on AI projects aimed at improving childhood cancer research and treatment. The initiative will fund scientific teams to enhance clinical trials, sharpen diagnoses, and develop better therapies using data from the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative. The announcement comes as…
In brief Wisconsin’s Assembly Bill 471, introduced Monday, would exempt crypto users from licensing when accepting payments, using self-hosted wallets, running nodes, developing software, and staking. The bill would prohibit state agencies and local governments from restricting these fundamental blockchain activities. The move follows Wisconsin’s $300 million Bitcoin ETF liquidation in Q1 2025 and Democrats’…
In brief The SEC’s adoption of generic listing standards has made the 19b-4 review clock irrelevant, shifting the approval process to S-1 registrations. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said Solana’s S-1 just filed its fourth amendment, signaling that approval could come soon. A Solana ETF could trigger speculative buying but may also face a “sell the…
In brief A new study has unveiled Titan, an LLM agent that tests MMORPGs by reasoning and exploring game states. Titan found four previously unknown bugs and completed 95% of tasks in two commercial games. Already deployed in QA pipelines, Titan may reshape how games are tested across PC and mobile. Game studios have long…
In brief OpenAI’s GDPval benchmark tested real jobs—legal briefs, code, reports—and found AI matching human experts at breakneck speed. Claude and GPT-5 outperformed seasoned professionals in 44 occupations, improving threefold in just over a year. The study showed the first wave of disruption will hit office-based jobs, from coders to lawyers and journalists. OpenAI unveiled…
In brief The outreach was based on a review of 200+ firms with crypto-treasury plans, but only some were reportedly flagged. Regulators are reportedly examining whether leaks or trading on material non-public information may have occurred. Observers have warned that poorly timed treasury strategies may appear gimmicky and expose firms to instability. The Securities and…
In brief Authors Yudkowsky and Soares warn that AI superintelligence will make humans extinct. Critics say extinction talk overshadows real harms like bias, layoffs, and disinformation. The AI debate is split between doomers and accelerationists pushing for faster growth. It may sound like a Hollywood thriller, but in their new book “If Anyone Builds It,…
