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Found 11109 news

  • Ethereum Foundation leadership exodus continues with director’s departure
    Cointelegraph.com - 19:51 Jun 18, 2026
    Hsiao-Wei Wang’s departure adds to a wave of Ethereum Foundation exits, fueling debate over governance, decentralization and the network’s future. The Ethereum Foundation has lost another high-ranking contributor, amid increasing scrutiny of the research organization as the network faces ongoing questions about talent retention and governance philosophy. In a post on X, co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang announced that she had stepped down from her role, effective immediately, following a recent sabbatical. Wang wrote that "Ethereum has always been bigger than any role" and indicated that she has not yet decided what she will do next. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented on Wang’s an X post, acknowledging that she had taken on “the most challenging position in the Ethereum Foundation” alongside Tomasz Stanczak, who also stepped down from his leadership role earlier this year. Read more
    Tags: Ethereum Foundation
  • Bitcoin’s deeply discounted versus AI-stocks, but hawkish Fed risk lingers: Bitwise
    Cointelegraph.com - 19:41 Jun 18, 2026
    Bitwise analysts say Bitcoin trades in a historical value zone, but hawkish Federal Reserve signals and a competition for liquidity could sideline buyers. Bitcoin's (BTC) valuation metrics continue to highlight a deep discount even as markets brace for a potentially hawkish Federal Reserve under new chair Kevin Warsh. Analysis from Bitwise Investments said BTC remains in a "deep value" zone after a valuation metric fell below 1.0, a level associated with long-term accumulation periods. However, investor participation remains subdued, with CryptoQuant's realized cap growth metric remaining in a bear phase since late October 2025. This points to a steady slowdown in fresh capital entering the BTC network. At the same time, a growing list of key companies going public raises increased competition for liquidity across the investment market, so the focus shifts to whether BTC attracts new capital amid tighter liquidity conditions. Read more
    Tags: Bitwise Bitcoin
  • HIVE secures $220M AI infrastructure contract with Bell and Cohere
    Cointelegraph.com - 17:54 Jun 18, 2026
    The deal is expected to add approximately $70 million in annual recurring revenue as the company scales its AI-focused operations. Canadian Bitcoin miner HIVE Digital Technologies said its AI subsidiary BUZZ HPC has signed a three-year GPU cloud contract worth approximately $220 million with Bell AI Fabric for AI startup Cohere, expanding the company's push into high-performance computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure. The agreement calls for BUZZ HPC to deploy 2,304 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs at a Bell Canada data center in British Columbia, where the infrastructure will support Cohere's artificial intelligence models and services for enterprise and government customers. After the deployment enters service, HIVE expects the project to contribute about $70 million in contracted annual recurring revenue, increasing its contracted HPC revenue target to more than $100 million, according to the company. Read more
    Tags: Hive Bell Cohere
  • CME Group sues CFTC over crypto perpetual futures
    Cointelegraph.com - 17:42 Jun 18, 2026
    The lawsuit targets the federal regulator and Chair Michael Selig, alleging that the Commodity Futures Trading Commissioin is treating cryptocurrency “futures” as “swaps,” posing risks to derivatives markets. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group said it was taking legal action against the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over cryptocurrency perpetual futures. In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, CME filed a complaint against the CFTC and its chair Michael Selig over the agency's regular approvals of perpetual futures tied to crypto. The lawsuit stemmed from a May 29 notice from the CFTC approving perpetual futures contracts tied to the spot price of Bitcoin (BTC) for prediction markets platform Kalshi and issuing a no-action position for similar products on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. According to CME's filing, the CFTC’s approval of such products went against directives from the US Congress by treating “futures” as “swaps” with expiration date...
    Tags: CFTC
  • Bitcoin miners need billions to fund AI ambitions, led by IREN’s $21B gap
    Cointelegraph.com - 16:56 Jun 18, 2026
    IREN leads public Bitcoin miners with a projected $21.1 billion AI infrastructure funding gap, underscoring the capital-intensive nature of converting mining sites into data centers. Public Bitcoin miners are increasingly being valued as AI infrastructure companies, but turning that narrative into reality could require roughly $50 billion in near-term capital, according to a new framework highlighted by Blocksbridge Consulting's latest Miner Weekly newsletter. Using data from VanEck, the report argues that miners need long-term financing to convert power assets into AI-ready data centers, where higher infrastructure standards translate into much larger capital requirements than traditional Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations. “A Bitcoin mine can run with relatively simple buildings, modular infrastructure and ASIC fleets that tolerate fast curtailment. AI and HPC facilities require higher standards for uptime, cooling, electrical redundancy, networking and customer support,” Miner Weekly said. Read more
    Tags: IREN Bitcoin
  • Bitcoin to $145K by October? Why this 'crazy accurate' 4chan prediction is sketchy
    Cointelegraph.com - 14:46 Jun 18, 2026
    A viral 4chan Bitcoin prediction appears to have nailed past BTC prices, but edited targets and impossible supply claims weaken its $145,000 call. A viral social media post is reviving an alleged Bitcoin prediction that appears to have called several major BTC price levels from 2019 through 2024, with one final target remaining: $145,000 by October 2026. Key takeaways: The new viral post appears to be an iteration of an older post with different Bitcoin price targets. Read more
    Tags: October Bitcoin
  • What happens when ChatGPT becomes the front door to crypto
    Cointelegraph.com - 14:30 Jun 18, 2026
    ChatGPT could become crypto’s new onboarding gateway, making Bitcoin and wallets easier to use while creating new trust risks. The next crypto user may start outside exchanges For most of crypto’s history, new users followed a fairly standard path. They signed up on an exchange, completed identity checks, learned how wallets worked, bought their first cryptocurrency and only then started exploring decentralized applications (DApps). It was rarely a smooth process. Read more
    Tags: ChatGPT
  • Ledn to add Tether Gold as loan collateral, expanding Bitcoin-backed lending model
    Cointelegraph.com - 14:12 Jun 18, 2026
    Ledn’s planned addition of Tether Gold lending comes as tokenized commodities expand, with the sector accounting for nearly 17% of the $43 billion RWA market. (June 18 17:05 UTC) This article has been updated to reflect that Tether Gold-backed loans will be available on Ledn later this year. Bitcoin lending platform Ledn is expanding its services to include Tether Gold (XAUt), giving investors the ability to hold the tokenized asset and eventually use it as collateral for loans, just as they can with Bitcoin. Ledn announced Thursday that later this year, clients will be able to use XAUt as collateral for loans instead of selling their holdings for cash. Under the company's existing lending model, client collateral is held one-to-one and is not rehypothecated, lent out or used to generate yield. Read more
    Tags: Ledn Tether Gold
  • Capital B shareholders approve up to $120B in financing capacity for Bitcoin strategy
    Cointelegraph.com - 12:46 Jun 18, 2026
    Capital B shareholders approved up to $120 billion in financing capacity, including equity and credit instruments, to support the company's Bitcoin accumulation strategy. France-listed Bitcoin treasury company Capital B's shareholders approved authorizations allowing the company to raise up to 105 billion euros ($120.4 billion) to fund future Bitcoin purchases. Over 95% of shareholders approved the establishment of up to 5 billion euros in capital increases, equivalent to as many as 125 billion new shares at the current nominal value, as well as the issuance of up to 100 billion euros in credit instruments, Capital B announced on Wednesday. The company said the issuance of the new capital instruments will “accelerate its Bitcoin accumulation strategy, focused on increasing the number of Bitcoin per fully diluted share over time.” Read more
    Tags: Bitcoin Capital
  • G7 calls for joint action on North Korean crypto theft, cybercrime
    Cointelegraph.com - 11:33 Jun 18, 2026
    G7 leaders broadened their warning over North Korean crypto theft to include wider cybercrime as researchers link DPRK-affiliated actors to billions of dollars in stolen digital assets. Group of Seven (G7) leaders have renewed their call for joint action against North Korean cryptocurrency thefts and cybercrime. In a statement adopted at this week's G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, the leaders expressed “deep concern” over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The United Nations and security researchers have linked North Korea's crypto thefts to funding for the country's weapons programs. The G7 leaders did not specify how members should act on the call, making no mention of measures such as exchange screening, sanctions or actions against mixing services often discussed in connection with North Korean crypto laundering. Read more
    Tags: North Korean
  • Bitcoin market cap rebound to take '5-10 years' after dropping 10 places since mid-2025
    Cointelegraph.com - 10:29 Jun 18, 2026
    Bitcoin could be absent from the world's top five assets by market cap until 2036, despite an estimate seeing the BTC bear market being nearly 70% complete. Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped 10 places by market capitalization in a year as the bear market heavily punishes crypto. Key points: Bitcoin has dropped to 15th place in the world's largest assets by market cap. Read more
    Tags: Bitcoin
  • Aztec hit by second $2.1M exploit in less than week: SlowMist
    Cointelegraph.com - 10:28 Jun 18, 2026
    Security researchers warn that deprecated smart contracts can remain vulnerable long after projects stop maintaining them. Deprecated Aztec infrastructure has suffered a second exploit within days, adding to concerns about the security of abandoned smart contract infrastructure. Aztec’s private rollup bridge was exploited on Thursday for 1,158 Ether (ETH), 150,000 Dai (DAI) and 0.46 renBTC (RENBTC), totaling about $2.15 million, according to Cos, the co-founder of cybersecurity company SlowMist. His preliminary analysis found that the attacker used a false rollup proof to trick the protocol into releasing assets from its reserves to the attacker's address. Read more
    Tags: SlowMist Aztec
  • Grayscale applies traditional finance models to AAVE, sees $175 value
    Cointelegraph.com - 09:45 Jun 18, 2026
    Grayscale and CoinShares are applying traditional valuation techniques to crypto assets as institutions explore revenue-generating DeFi protocols. Aave's native cryptocurrency could reach $175 under a one-year base-case scenario as asset managers increasingly apply traditional finance valuation models to decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, according to a new report by Grayscale Research. The digital asset manager said Aave could generate about $60 million in net income in 2026 and placed the token's current fair value at $80 to $100. The analysis used discounted cash flows, earnings multiples and comparisons with banks and fintech companies. Aave traded at $75 on Thursday, according to CoinGecko. Grayscale said Aave’s revenue rose more than sixfold between 2023 and 2025, while the protocol operates at an estimated 50% margin. It argued that Aave’s lending activity, GHO stablecoin and institutional products could support future earnings growth. Read more
    Tags: Grayscale
  • Ryan Salame’s wife to face charges over FTX-funded congressional run
    Cointelegraph.com - 06:17 Jun 18, 2026
    A federal judge has denied a bid from Michelle Bond, the wife of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, to have campaign finance charges against her dismissed. Michelle Bond, the wife of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, will face illicit campaign finance charges after a judge rejected her argument that prosecutors promised Salame that she would be cleared if he pleaded guilty. Manhattan federal judge George Daniels on Wednesday denied Bond’s bid to dismiss an indictment that alleged she illegally took money from the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX to help bankroll her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022. Daniels wrote there was “no ambiguity” in the terms of Salame’s written plea agreement. “As the evidence made clear, all parties, including the defendants and their counsel, were aware that the Government had not promised Bond's immunity by the time Salame entered his guilty plea,” he said. Read more
    Tags: Ryan Salame
  • Florida man pleads guilty for promoting $1.8B ‘HyperFund’ crypto fraud
    Cointelegraph.com - 06:06 Jun 18, 2026
    Rodney “Bitcoin Rodney” Burton faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. A 56-year-old Florida resident has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business in connection with a $1.8 billion fraudulent crypto platform. According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Rodney “Bitcoin Rodney” Burton conspired to provide unlicensed money transmitting services to promote HyperFund, a global wire-fraud scheme. Kelly O. Hayes, US Attorney for the District of Maryland and agents from the Washington Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit and Homeland Security Investigations, New York, announced Burton’s guilty plea on Wednesday. Read more
    Tags: HyperFund Florida
  • Dorsey’s Block says new AI tool handles 15% of code work
    Cointelegraph.com - 05:38 Jun 18, 2026
    Builderbot is the “missing layer between AI coding tools and how engineering actually works at scale,” said Brad Axen, head of AI capabilities at Block. Jack Dorsey’s financial services firm Block rolled out a new suite of AI-native tools on Wednesday, which it says can execute around 15% of all production code changes across the company. The new AI tooling, Builderbot, is able to execute over 200,000 operations per day and merges approximately 1,500 pull requests per week, said the company. “The best way to think about Builderbot is as the missing layer between AI coding tools and how engineering actually works at scale,” said Brad Axen, head of AI capabilities at Block. “What used to take months now takes days,” the company added. Read more
    Tags: Block
  • France to stop certifying products lacking quantum-resistant encryption
    Cointelegraph.com - 04:06 Jun 18, 2026
    France’s cybersecurity agency plans to block certification of products without quantum-resistant encryption starting in 2027, with full adoption targeted for 2030. France’s national cybersecurity agency ANSSI said Tuesday that it will stop certifying security products that lack quantum-resistant encryption, reflecting growing concern among governments about quantum threats to cryptography. ANSSI Chief of Staff Samih Souissi said at the France Quantum 2026 Summit that it would halt such certifications in 2027 and that businesses should buy only quantum-safe products by 2030, Reuters reported. “ANSSI has been telegraphing this move for years,” Marin Ivezic, the founder of consulting firm Applied Quantum, said in a post on LinkedIn. “What changed yesterday is that ANSSI’s chief of staff said it publicly at a major conference, in front of the French quantum ecosystem, with Reuters in the room. The guidance became a commitment.” Read more
    Tags: France
  • Kentucky sues Kalshi, Polymarket, joining prediction market legal battle
    Cointelegraph.com - 03:35 Jun 18, 2026
    Kentucky has sued Polymarket, Kalshi and Kalshi’s partners Coinbase, Robinhood and Webull, over offering sports event contracts in the state. Kentucky has sued five prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, adding to a wave of US states launching legal fights with prediction markets over sports event contracts. State Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement Wednesday that his office filed lawsuits in state court against Polymarket and Kalshi — also naming Kalshi partners Coinbase, Robinhood and Webull — accusing them of “operating unlicensed and illegal sports betting and gambling platforms.” “Kalshi and Polymarket are operating illegal sportsbooks in Kentucky and breaking our laws,” Coleman said. “These multi-billion dollar corporations and their legal fictions don’t pass the sniff test. As one of our state legislative leaders said it best, ‘If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…’” Read more
    Tags: Polymarket Kentucky Kalshi
  • Tether winds down gold-backed derivative stablecoin aUSDT
    Cointelegraph.com - 03:26 Jun 18, 2026
    Tether is focusing on stronger user demand, deeper liquidity, and broader long-term market opportunity for its leading products. Stablecoin issuer Tether is winding down Alloy by Tether and its gold-backed, overcollateralized aUSDT stablecoin after just two years to focus on products and areas with stronger demand. Tether announced its “strategic changes” on Wednesday following a review of user activity, market demand, and the company’s “broader priorities.” Tether said it has decided to focus resources on areas where it is seeing “stronger user demand, deeper liquidity and broader long-term market opportunity,” including its gold-backed digital asset XAUT and other core products across its ecosystem. Read more
    Tags: USDt Tether
  • Crypto market treads thin ice following Warsh FOMC, Trump Iran comments
    Cointelegraph.com - 23:45 Jun 17, 2026
    Markets wobbled after mixed comments from President Trump on the Iran peace deal and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh signaling a new direction from the Federal Reserve. Key takeaways: Bitcoin remains under pressure from $2.1 billion in ETF outflows in June and an ongoing discount relative to global Bitcoin/USDT pairs. Strategy’s STRC stock shows weakness, highlighting growing concerns over monthly dividend obligations and share dilution. Read more

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