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Found 11876 news

  • 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
  • Gaming groups urge Congress to ban prediction markets sports betting in CLARITY Act
    Cointelegraph.com - 21:37 Jun 17, 2026
    Gambling industry groups want the US Senate to step in to clarify that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission does not have the authority to oversee prediction markets. Several national gaming and tribal organizations and labor groups have reportedly called on the US Senate to add language “that explicitly prohibits event contracts tied to sports and casino-style gaming” in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. According to a Wednesday Semafor report, groups tied to sports betting, including the Indian Gaming Association and American Gaming Association have united against what they called gambling on prediction markets. They requested that the US Congress use the CLARITY Act now under consideration in the Senate to affirm that “sports betting falls outside the [Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s] remit and cannot be offered through prediction market platforms.” “While our organizations may differ on other issues, including gambling policy, we are united in our concern that prediction markets h...
    Tags: Congress CLARITY
  • Crypto-backed GOP candidate wins Alabama Senate runoff with June primaries looming
    Cointelegraph.com - 20:51 Jun 17, 2026
    Several more US states are scheduled to hold primaries next week after one Republican candidate won in Alabama on Tuesday after a crypto company-backed PAC used what it called its “biggest spend of the cycle.” More than $12 million in crypto-aligned political action committee (PAC) media buys helped propel Barry Moore to victory in Tuesday's Alabama Republican US Senate runoff over Barry Moore. The runoff was necessary after neither candidate was able to secure a majority of the vote on May 19, Moore will be the Republican candidate for a US Senate seat in Alabama, facing off against Democrat Everett Wess. Moore won with 55.8% of the vote to Hudson’s 44.2%, giving him an opportunity to replace outgoing Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville. Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) showed that the Defend American Jobs PAC, a committee affiliated with the cryptocurrency company-backed Fairshake, spent more than $12 million on media and ads to back Moore’s candidacy in the May 19 primary and Tuesday’s ru...
  • Bitcoin capitulation ‘twice as weak’ after spot liquidity turns supportive: Glassnode
    Cointelegraph.com - 20:26 Jun 17, 2026
    Bitcoin’s realized losses fell by 46% as increasing bid-side liquidity points to easing sell pressure. Can bulls push BTC price back above $70,000? Bitcoin's (BTC) latest bout of panic selling produced significantly smaller realized losses than those seen during the February correction. Realized losses peaked at $1.4 billion during the June decline, compared to $2.6 billion in February, while the buy-side liquidity on Binance strengthened above recent lows at $60,000, according to Glassnode. BTC realized drop 46% from February highs Bitcoin's realized profit-to-loss ratio has fallen into capitulation territory, signaling that loss-taking continues to outweigh profit-taking across the market. The 30-day smoothed ratio currently sits near 0.28, one of the lowest readings of the year. Read more
    Tags: Glassnode Bitcoin
  • Bybit lands on Singapore MAS Investor Alert List
    Cointelegraph.com - 20:01 Jun 17, 2026
    Crypto exchange Bybit has been added to Singapore’s MAS Investor Alert List, which flags entities that may be mistakenly perceived as licensed or regulated. Crypto exchange Bybit has been added to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Investor Alert List, a registry designed to warn consumers about entities that may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by the financial watchdog. Bybit Fintech Limited and Bybit appeared on the MAS alert list on Wednesday, although the regulator did not provide a specific reason for their inclusion. Bybit Fintech Limited, the corporate entity behind the exchange, appears on the MAS Investor Alert List website. Source: MAS Read more
    Tags: Bybit
  • Blockchain.com deepens onchain stock offerings as tokenized equities market grows
    Cointelegraph.com - 19:32 Jun 17, 2026
    The rollout in collaboration with Ondo Finance broadens access to tokenized traditional assets as demand for onchain stocks and ETFs continues to grow. Crypto platform Blockchain.com has added 173 tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds through a partnership with Ondo Finance, bringing its catalog of tokenized traditional assets to more than 430 offerings across Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain. According to an announcement on Wednesday, the new listings include tokenized exposure to private company shares, active exchange-traded funds, Treasury products and covered-call strategies, with Blockchain.com highlighting SpaceX's SPCX token among the additions. The expansion also adds themed baskets tied to AI infrastructure, energy, robotics, autonomous vehicles and quantum computing, alongside income-focused products from Global X and other issuers. Read more
    Tags: Blockchain
  • Altcoin selling tops $266B as capital rotates out of crypto: Is altseason extinct?
    Cointelegraph.com - 19:23 Jun 17, 2026
    Altcoin spot demand fell to its weakest level in six years while the stablecoin market cap, stocks and AI industry continued to capture investors’ attention. Altcoin markets (excluding Ether (ETH)) recently saw $266 billion in net selling volume on centralized exchanges, the deepest reading since the metric began tracking spot demand in 2020. Altcoins accounted for 51% of Binance futures trading volume on June 16, compared with 28.85% for Bitcoin and 20.20% for Ether, positioning the exchange as a leader in derivatives activity in 2026. The divergence between record selling and dominant trading activity points to capital rotating within crypto and also into alternative exchange products. Read more
    Tags: Altcoin
  • Kalshi adds software partner as it looks to boost prediction market surveillance
    Cointelegraph.com - 17:51 Jun 17, 2026
    The collaboration comes as US state regulators and the CFTC battle over oversight of event-based contracts. Prediction market Kalshi has partnered with compliance software provider StarCompliance to launch a monitoring platform designed to help financial companies oversee employee activity on prediction markets, as the sector faces increased scrutiny over insider trading and the use of non-public information. According to Wednesday's announcement, the system is intended to flag employee activity based on transaction volume, trading patterns, market categories and work-hour activity, while giving firms a centralized way to manage investigations and audit records tied to prediction market exposure across onchain and offchain environments. The launch comes days after a federal judge set a December trial date for US Army Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who prosecutors allege used non-public information about a military operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to earn more than $400,000 on predicti...
    Tags: Kalshi
  • US lawmakers warn against presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried
    Cointelegraph.com - 17:29 Jun 17, 2026
    The former FTX CEO is currently serving a 25-year sentence after being found guilty on seven felony charges related to the misuse of customer funds. Two US lawmakers on opposite sides of the political aisle are backing a resolution that “under no circumstances should Samuel [SBF] Bankman-Fried receive executive clemency, including a pardon or commutation.” In a resolution to be introduced Wednesday, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Senator Rubén Gallego warned that should US President Donald Trump grant SBF’s request for a pardon, it would “erase [his] conviction [...] weaken deterrence, and send a deeply damaging message that perpetrators of large-scale financial fraud can escape permanent accountability.” The resolution would be non-binding, as a US president’s pardon power is enshrined in the Constitution. “[The US Senate] affirms that the 25-year sentence imposed upon Bankman-Fried reflects the extraordinary scale and deliberateness of his crimes, his lack of remorse, and the catastrophic ...
  • Trace Finance raises $32M for cross-border stablecoin settlement expansion
    Cointelegraph.com - 15:00 Jun 17, 2026
    The raise comes as stablecoin regulation advances globally and financial firms invest in infrastructure connecting blockchain payments with traditional banking systems. Stablecoin settlement infrastructure company Trace Finance has raised $32 million in a Series A funding round led by CoinFund. Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital and Paxos were among the investors that participated in the round, the company said Wednesday in a statement shared with Cointelegraph. Trace Finance provides banking, foreign exchange and stablecoin settlement infrastructure for cross-border payments across Latin America. It claims to have processed more than $10 billion in transaction volume and plans to use the fresh capital to expand across LatAm, the US and Asia-Pacific markets. Read more
    Tags: Trace Finance
  • Bitcoin price sets $64.5K week-to-date low as Strategy selling worries return
    Cointelegraph.com - 14:49 Jun 17, 2026
    Bitcoin circled $65,000 after downside BTC price pressure into the FOMC meeting as analysis warned over the impact of Strategy potentially selling more BTC in the future. Bitcoin (BTC) bounced off week-to-date lows into Wednesday’s Wall Street open as corporate sell pressure returned to the radar. Key points: Bitcoin sees a new low for the current weekly candle with the Fed FOMC meeting due in hours. Read more
    Tags: Bitcoin Strategy
  • Ready USDC card halts non-EEA service after issuer change, users report
    Cointelegraph.com - 14:08 Jun 17, 2026
    Users reported losing access to Ready’s USDC card outside the EEA after a card provider change triggered rapid deactivation notices. Ready, a self-custodial crypto wallet and payments company, has reportedly restricted card access for users outside the European Economic Area, according to multiple user reports. Ready has restricted USDC card functionality for users outside the European Economic Area following a change in its card provider, according to notices shared by users on social media. Several users shared screenshots of an in-app notice from Ready stating: “Your Ready Card will be deactivated within the next hour,” citing changes affecting users “primarily outside the EEA.” Read more
  • CoinMENA, Standard Chartered partner on UAE payment rails
    Cointelegraph.com - 13:44 Jun 17, 2026
    CoinMENA will use Standard Chartered to strengthen fiat payment rails in the UAE, while Revolut reportedly secured central bank licenses ahead of a planned local launch. Crypto exchange CoinMENA has entered a banking agreement with Standard Chartered to strengthen fiat payment infrastructure for customers in the United Arab Emirates. Under the agreement, CoinMENA will use Standard Chartered to support fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts and virtual account-based transaction management, according to a press release shared to Cointelegraph. The exchange said the arrangement would improve transparency and liquidity settlement with approved global counterparties. In the announcement, Standard Chartered UAE, Middle East and Pakistan CEO Rola Abu Manneh said the UAE had established itself as a leading regulatory environment for digital assets, creating opportunities for financial institutions and regulated firms to collaborate. Read more
    Tags: Standard Chartered CoinMENA
  • Onchain, in court: What happened in crypto legal news this week
    Cointelegraph.com - 13:40 Jun 17, 2026
    The Polymarket insider trading case and a retrial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm are expected to move forward in late 2026 while former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky awaits a response to his motion to vacate his sentence. US prosecutors propose late 2026 retrial for Tornado Cash co-founder Federal prosecutors on Monday submitted a proposed schedule for the potential retrial of Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm to begin later this year. Storm was found guilty on one of three charges related to illegal money transmitting in 2025, but a jury deadlocked on two other charges, setting the stage for a potential retrial. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Jay Clayton Clayton proposed an Oct. 20 final pretrial conference in Storm’s case, signaling a potential trial start date of late October or November 2026. The filing noted that the timeline was subject to the court’s decision on a Rule 29 motion filed by Storm requesting acquittal of the remaining charges. Read more

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