Senator Ron Wyden has called on Senate leaders to ensure the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act remains in the CLARITY Act when it is brought to the floor. US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has urged Senate leaders to ensure that crypto developer protections stay in the crypto market structure legislation that lawmakers are looking to pass ahead of the midterms. Wyden told Senate Minority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer to preserve a section of the CLARITY Act known as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), according to a letter shared by Crypto in America podcast co-founder Eleanor Terrett on Wednesday. “Developers who make and release software that allows people to manage their own digital assets — and, critically, where the developer does not control user assets — should not be treated as money transmitters solely because they create or publish software,” Wyden wrote. Read more
Onchain scammers netted more than $14 billion last year, and approval phishing remains a primary attack vector. A crypto user lost nearly $1 million on Wednesday after signing a phishing token approval on Ethereum, according to onchain data. It comes as the industry recorded $366 million in phishing losses in the first half of the year. A Scam Sniffer alert on Thursday revealed a victim lost 999,999 USDt (USDT) to an Ethereum phishing token approval scam. Scammers first tried draining a rounded $1 million via multicalls but failed due to insufficient funds, then succeeded seconds later by pulling the exact remaining balance in follow-up transfers. “The script recalculated and pulled the exact remaining balance,” Scam Sniffer said. Read more
Hackers have also been exploiting the codebases of defunct decentralized finance protocols, draining millions of dollars in customer funds. Blockchain security experts are urging crypto protocols to reaudit their smart contracts as AI tooling is making it easier for hackers to identify vulnerabilities more quickly than ever before. “Our data argues for continuous review rather than a one-time audit,” TRM Labs head of policy Ari Redbord told Cointelegraph, adding that “attack techniques are moving faster than a single audit from launch day can account for.” CertiK reported Monday that hackers stole another $1.32 billion in the first half of 2026 and have adopted increasingly sophisticated strategies in response to strengthened security measures across the industry. Read more
Ongoing strong demand for AI infrastructure “would likely sustain upward pressure on prices for technology products and electricity,” Federal Reserve policymakers said. Federal Reserve officials were split last month on whether to increase interest rates or keep them steady, with many seeing accelerating demand for artificial intelligence as a driver of inflation, according to meeting minutes released on Wednesday. The minutes covered the first monetary policy meeting under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Many Federal Open Market Committee members said that “ongoing strong demand for AI infrastructure would likely sustain upward pressure on prices for technology products and electricity,” according to the minutes. AI-related inflationary pressure, colloquially known as “chipflation,” stems from the rising cost of semiconductors used by data centers. This surge in demand, along with data center competition for energy, has pushed up consumer prices for a wide range of electronic goods, devices and power, and may conti...
Crypto venture firm Paradigm is widening its investment gaze toward AI and other frontier industries with its latest fund. Paradigm has raised $1.2 billion for its fourth fund, which will expand the crypto venture capital firm’s investments into artificial intelligence and related technologies. The company said on Wednesday that its latest fund will invest “first in crypto, and now across AI, robotics and other frontiers.” “We continue investing in crypto and the reinvention of markets and the financial system,” Paradigm added, highlighting its investments in the crypto perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid and the prediction markets platform Kalshi. Read more
Zapper provided crypto market data to over 2 million monthly active users and oversaw more than $13 billion in processed transactions during its peak. Decentralized finance (DeFi) analytics platform Zapper announced it will shut down next month, becoming the latest crypto platform to fold amid a market downturn. In a post to X on Wednesday, Zapper CEO Seb Audet said Zapper’s website, mobile app and API services would shut down on Aug. 3, marking the end of a seven-year run after receiving backing from the likes of billionaire investor Mark Cuban in 2021. “We evaluated a number of different options, pursued some to the fullest extent possible, and came to the realization that an orderly wind down is the best course of action,” Audet said. Read more
The size and scope of the US stock market “gives policymakers a strong incentive to backstop major drawdowns,” said Bitget Wallet COO, Alvin Kan. Crypto markets could benefit from increased liquidity if the US central bank steps in to support the $75 trillion equity market in a bear market, as it is "too big and too important to fail,” according to analysts. The US equity market has grown by 68% over the past five years and has added roughly $6 trillion in market value so far this year. However, analysts and experts, such as goldbug Peter Schiff, have warned that years of rapid growth could be setting up the market for a major correction. Such a correction could see the Fed "break decades of precedent" and buy equity ETFs to support the stock market, Bloomberg's ETF expert Eric Balchunas said on Tuesday, while other analysts said the resulting move to increase liquidity could set up an environment for cryptocurrencies to benefit. Read more
Bitcoin faces renewed sell pressure amid an oil price surge, Japan economic contagion risks and a fresh round of selling from Strategy. Key takeaways: Bitcoin traded down 3.5% on Wednesday as new developments in the US-Iran war pushed oil prices higher and Japan’s bond markets faced renewed stress. That combination triggered broader de-risking across markets. At the same time, concerns over potential Bitcoin sales from Strategy intensified, with traders now bracing for a possible correction below $60,000. Read more