Lawmakers are pushing new regulation for prediction markets after suspiciously timed Polymarket bets on US and Israeli strikes on Iran raised insider-trading concerns. Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are reportedly exploring new fundraising rounds that could value the companies at around $20 billion each, roughly double their most recent valuations. Both platforms have held preliminary discussions with potential investors about raising fresh capital at the elevated valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report noted that the negotiations remain at an early stage and may not result in deals or secure the targeted valuation. Kalshi currently operates in the United States and offers markets allowing users to wager on outcomes tied to sports, politics, the economy and cultural events. The company was last valued at about $11 billion in December when it raised $1 billion from investors including Paradigm and Sequoia Capital. Read more
Stablecoin monthly transaction volume reached a record $1.8 trillion in February, as USDC surprised analysts with 70% of the total volume. Stablecoins have hit an all-time high in monthly transaction volume, as Circle’s USDC (USDC) flipped Tether’s USDt (USDT), new data shows. Key takeaways: Stablecoin monthly transaction volume reached a record $1.8 trillion in February. Read more
xAI’s Grok drew massive attention on X after delivering profanity-filled roasts of Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu and Keir Starmer following user prompts. xAI’s chatbot Grok has sparked widespread buzz on X after delivering a series of explicit roasts targeting high-profile figures like Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The exchanges began after users prompted Grok to produce “extremely vulgar” roasts of political leaders and public figures. The chatbot responded with profanity-filled insults directed at several well-known individuals. “Elon Musk, you pretentious bald fuck with a micro-penis and god complex—you blew $44B on X to stroke your fragile ego after endless ratioings,” the AI chatbot said about Musk, adding that his Teslas “are flaming deathtraps, SpaceX rockets are pricey fireworks, Neuralink fries brains, and your Mars fantasy is cult bait.” Read more
SB 314 expands Florida’s money services law to cover stablecoins, requiring issuer compliance with existing regulations while banning unlicensed issuance. Florida lawmakers have approved a state-level framework regulating payment stablecoins, moving the legislation to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk for final approval. In a Friday post on X, Samuel Armes, founder of the Florida Blockchain Business Association, revealed that Senate Bill 314 has cleared the Florida Senate unanimously. The measure is set to become law once signed by DeSantis, which Armes expects within the next month. “It has now passed the Senate and the House, and will be signed by DeSantis within the next 30 days!” he wrote on X. Read more
Bitcoin whales have sold about 66% of the Bitcoin they recently accumulated since Wednesday, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment. Retail investors have been scooping up Bitcoin after it slipped below $70,000, but whale activity suggests the price could still head lower if past patterns repeat, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment. “The moment Bitcoin hit $74k, these key stakeholders began taking profit,” Santiment said in a report on Friday. Santiment explained that whales — those holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — “accumulated heavily” between Feb. 23 and Mar. 3, when Bitcoin was trading between $62,900 and $69,600. Read more
Mixers, privacy coins and the threat quantum computing could pose to Bitcoin were all points of speculation across the industry following the release of Trump’s Cyber Strategy. Crypto industry executives are combing through US President Donald Trump’s National Cyber Strategy after it was released on Friday, searching for hints about what it could signal for government support of the crypto industry. “Crypto and blockchain are explicitly named as technologies to be 'protected and secured.’ This is a first for any US cybersecurity strategy,” Galaxy Digital’s head of firmwide research Alex Thorn said in an X post on Friday. Crypto and blockchain were mentioned once in the six-page report: Read more
If the crypto industry and community banks cannot find common ground on the CLARITY Act, the only winners will be the “big banks,” according to crypto executive Austin Campbell. A crypto executive has pushed back against claims by the president of a community banking association that any compromise between the banking sector and the crypto industry on the US CLARITY Act would be a mistake. “If community banks and crypto can't find a way to work together, we already know who the winners are. It's not the community banks. It's not consumers. It's not the crypto industry,” Zero Knowledge Consulting founder Austin Campbell said in an X post on Friday. “It is the big banks,” Campbell said. Read more