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A US banking regulator is granting preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Financial’s application for a new national trust bank. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says it reviewed the application from the President Trump-backed firm to establish the World Liberty Trust Company, National Association bank for stablecoin operations and digital asset custody. The bank plans to issue and redeem the USD1 stablecoin, maintain reserves in a non-fiduciary capacity, provide fiduciary digital asset custody and offer limited conversion services for custody customers. USD1 is a core product of World Liberty Financial. Says the OCC, “The OCC hereby grants preliminary…

In brief Solana’s PUMP is today’s the top performer in the top 100 coins by market cap, up 8.26% The technical signals on the charts are starting to paint a more optimistic picture for PUMP holders. Protocol revenue on the Pump.fun app hit a new weekly high of $10.03 million on August 11. The crypto market is up 1.1% on a Monday that opened with Fear & Greed Index score at 39, meaning markets may still be fearful, but they’re not in panic mode anymore. Meanwhile, the Altcoin Season Index is at 44 out of 100, which typically means traders…

In brief OpenAI President Greg Brockman published “The Defender’s Window” on August 17, The essay urges companies to deploy AI security agents immediately and calling the OpenAI-Hugging Face breach a “watershed moment for cybersecurity.” Hugging Face’s own team used Z.ai’s open-weight GLM 5.2 to investigate OpenAI’s hack after American commercial AI refused to help. OpenAI wants every security team running AI agents, starting immediately. President Greg Brockman published a policy essay Monday, titled “The Defender’s Window,” describing a narrow window before attackers catch up to what AI can already do.His opening example is the incident OpenAI has spent a month…

Solana treasury company SOLAI Limited (formerly BIT Mining) said shareholders approved a capital reset that leaves it with 100 billion authorized Class A ordinary shares after a 700-for-1 consolidation. The vote came nearly a month after the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in its American depositary shares. Related ReadingBIT Mining’s Solana move sparks stock surge to three-year highThe Bitcoin mining company wants to position itself as a key public exposure vehicle for the Solana blockchain. Jul 10, 2025 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo SOLAI Limited said Monday that investors at an Aug. 14 extraordinary general meeting first approved increasing authorized Class…

In brief Minnesota is fighting xAI’s attempt to block the state’s first-of-its-kind law targeting AI-generated sexual images. xAI says the law violates the First Amendment, while Minnesota argues Grok Imagine is a technological tool, not protected speech. The state accused xAI of creating an “unparalleled marketplace for digital sexual violence” as a federal judge prepares to hear the case Wednesday. Minnesota is fighting Elon Musk’s xAI over the company’s attempt to block HF-1606, a first-of-its-kind state law targeting AI tools that generate realistic sexual images of identifiable people.In a Friday court filing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that xAI…

In brief Kraken parent Payward has joined Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and is using Claude Mythos 5 for cybersecurity. The company said Mythos 5 will scan its systems for vulnerabilities, with findings reviewed and patched through its existing security program. Project Glasswing gives vetted organizations access to Anthropic’s cyber-capable AI models for defensive security work. Kraken parent company Payward has joined Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and is using Claude Mythos to hunt for security flaws.The move follows an open letter from over 40 Bitcoin and crypto companies, including Kraken, sent last week to Anthropic, OpenAI, and other leading AI labs demanding frontier…

In brief Polymarket is pricing in a 74% chance of no change at the next Fed meeting, and just 25% on a quarter-point hike. Kalshi’s September Fed-decision contract prices a 73.5% hold, with roughly $10 million wagered on the outcome. Myriad’s “Fed Decision in September?” market lists “No Change” at about 75% odds, and resolves after the September 15–16 FOMC meeting. Prediction markets are converging on the same forecast for the Federal Reserve’s September meeting: don’t expect anything to change.Polymarket’s “Fed Decision in September?” market puts the odds of no change at 74%, with a quarter-point hike at 25% and…

Quantitative trading firm and liquidity provider Jane Street has a nearly $1 billion bitcoin position — or 15,394 BTC at today’s prices.  But the position is not held in the form of digital coins: According to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wall Street giant holds $990 million in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, spread across major ETFs like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust.  The lion’s share of the firm’s holdings are in BlackRock’s fund, with $828 million solely invested in the fund, according to the filing.  JUST IN: Wall…

In brief XRP is trading around $1.00, clinging to the dollar price line it’s defended since Trump’s 2024 win. The daily chart is bearish, and the weekly chart is now converging. With XRP deep in oversold territory, will it give holders a bounce? Crypto is grinding through what can be considered an extended bear market with no confirmed bottom in sight. Bitcoin is down more than 3% this week and stuck below $64,000, while Ethereum is struggling to hold onto $1,900, with traders still debating when this slide actually ends.Wall Street is having a completely different Monday. The S&P 500…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is moving fast with crypto regulation, with the government body asking for public comment on the landmark GENIUS Act.  In a Monday announcement, the Treasury said that it was welcoming input from stakeholders on a proposed rule that would provide clarity to industry regarding who needs a license to issue a stablecoin.  President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in 2025. The legislation allows banks and other entities to issue stablecoins if they back the tokens with assets like U.S. Treasuries and provide monthly disclosures of their reserves. While the law was…

In brief The SEC abruptly canceled a Friday open meeting that would have launched formal rulemaking on Regulation Crypto Assets, a new framework for crypto fundraising, just three days after announcing it. Sources say Wall Street trade group SIFMA, which has lobbied against broad regulatory exemptions for crypto and tokenized-securities firms, raised the prospect of legal action over the SEC’s statutory authority, contributing to the agency standing down. The policy conversation continues this week with a White House event Wednesday featuring Trump and top crypto executives, the CFTC’s inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting Thursday, and ongoing Clarity Act negotiations ahead…

Bitcoin treasury Strategy has gone another week without buying the leading cryptocurrency — but didn’t sell any this time.  The Nasdaq-listed company said Monday in a regulatory filing that it had upped its cash buffer by selling 3,458,866 shares of MSTR common stock to generate $333.7 million.  Strategy added $150M to its USD Reserve and repurchased $132M of $STRC, extending USD Duration to 2.8 yrs (+41 days) and tightening STRC BTC Credit to 114 bps (-4 bps). As of 8/16/26: ₿840,447 BTC Reserve; $4.8B USD Reserve. $MSTR https://t.co/kNWPowilmT— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 17, 2026 Strategy used $52.4 million to pay…

In brief The Netherlands’ NCSC warned of active exploitation of a macOS Screen Sharing vulnerability across systems with port 5900 exposed to the internet, where attackers gained root access and installed Monero mining programs. The flaw stems from faulty state management during authentication, letting network attackers log in without valid credentials The cryptojacking campaign—which quietly mines privacy coin Monero on victims’ hardware—joins a wave of similar schemes. Attackers have been exploiting a vulnerability in Apple’s macOS Screen Sharing feature to seize control of Macs and quietly install cryptocurrency miners, the Netherlands’ national cyber agency warned this week.In an updated advisory,…

In brief Tudor Investment increased its stake in BlackRock’s IBIT to 688,529 shares (~$22.9 million) as of June 30, an 18.9% jump from the prior quarter, reversing a year of selling, per its latest 13F filing. The firm also cut its reported IBIT call options by about 85% while keeping puts roughly flat, suggesting a move from leveraged positions toward straightforward spot exposure—though the stake remains far below its late-2024 peak of over 8 million shares. The buying, from a longtime Bitcoin-as-inflation-hedge advocate, lands amid renewed institutional ETF interest. Tudor Investment, the macro hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Tudor…