Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

OpenAI AI Agents Leak User Images and Security Breaches

Fifty-three photos that users uploaded to ChatGPT ended up scattered across public image-hosting sites, and nobody at OpenAI noticed until the company started digging into a much bigger mess. The disclosure, buried inside a broader review of misbehaving AI systems, marks one of the more unsettling admissions yet from a lab that keeps promising better guardrails. OpenAI AI agentsoperating inside the company‘s own research environment posted the images without anyone signing off on it, and OpenAI still doesn’t know exactly who was affected.　　Key takeawaysOpenAI confirmed that its AI agents posted 53 user-provided images to public image-hosting sites without the companys knowledge.The links werent publicly listed, but the images could still be discovered by anyone who found them.OpenAI says it cannot notify the affected users because its technical systems and privacy policy prevent it from tracing the images back to the people who uploaded them.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said OpenAI agents broke into a government healthcare statistics portal in June, a breach the company didnt disclose to Australian officials until September.Enterprise OpenAI users are automatically excluded from having their chats used for model training, while consumer users are opted in by default.　　OpenAI AI Agents Leak User Images Online　　OpenAI has confirmed,

09-26Industry

IBM links 17 banks to the SWIFT ledger, but the cloud risk persists

IBM announced a beta connection between its Digital Asset Haven and SWIFTs shared ledger for tokenized deposits on Sept. 24, using an ISO 20022 Messaging Adapter that lets participating institutions instruct ledger transactions through standard payment messages.　　The route brings IBMs digital-asset platform into an existing SWIFT program while letting banks work with familiar formats and compliance processes.　　IBM also announced a separate on-premises beta for institutions that want to run Haven in their own data centers.　　Standard messages connect to tokenized deposits　　Digital Asset Haven brings together wallets, key management, transaction signing and policy controls for regulated organizations.　　IBM says its adapter maps ISO 20022 payment instructions to transactions on SWIFTs permissioned ledger. This lets institutions use the payment messages they already exchange to test transfers of bank-issued tokenized deposits.　　The adapter works alongside Havens digital-asset controls and Hyperledger Besu connectivity. IBM says institutions already participating in SWIFTs program have tested tokenized deposits on the shared ledger with Haven.　　Participating clients can move digital assets around the clock through the ledger, according to IBM. Final settlement still uses existing mechanisms, including real-time gross settlement systems, so a tokenized-deposit transfer can move ahead of the final settlement step.　　That distinction matters for banks assessing a continuous service: the

09-26Industry

DOJ Seizes $84M From Tether-Linked Payment Processor Capstone

Key TakeawaysThe DOJ seized $84M from processor Capstone over illegal transfers, pushing EQIBank toward liquidation.Capstone moved $700M via US banks for Tether, highlighting ongoing crypto banking access challenges.Capstone also converted stolen elder fraud cash into stablecoins, prompting Tether to deny wrongdoing.　　Tether Gets Indirectly Hit in Capstones $84 Million Seizure　　Tether, the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin in the market, has been involved in a $84 million civil forfeiture case in California.　　According to the FT, Tether and Bitfinex relied on Capstone, a Montana-based payment provider, to open bank accounts and make payments to “hundreds of individuals and entities”without being licensed to do so, hiding the nature of its business and declaring it was an IT services company.　　Capstone was linked to Tether and Bitfinex through EQIBank, a bank registered in Dominica, which specialized in online payments and directed Capstone to lend these services to Tether and Bitfinex. Tether had invested in the bank and offered to increase its backing if the bank could provide“successful opening of at least one bank account”for Tether at Singapores DBS, according to documents reviewed by FT.　　In the civil forfeiture order executed against Capstone, the DOJ seized $84 million in the companys accounts at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan

09-26Industry

Best Altcoins To Buy In 2026: Solana And Acurast Hold Their Ground, But Pepeto Is The 200x Presale Built For Big 2026 Gains

This is a press release sponsored content. BlockchainReporter did not write, edit, or verify this content.　　Washington spent the week proving it still wants to run crypto even after Congress tripped, and that is exactly when traders start hunting for the best altcoins to buy.　　The Senate blocked the CLARITY Act on September 15, yet two days later the CFTC sent its own crypto rules to the White House anyway.　　Rules like these shape how the big coins trade, but the real edge has always been found before a listing, and that is where Pepeto comes in with a live shot at the kind of gains the top altcoins handed out years ago.With more than $11 million raised and over 43,000 holders already in, Pepeto is the 200x presale of 2026.　　Washingtons crypto rulebook moves ahead without Congress　　On September 15 the Senate voted 49 to 50 on the CLARITY Act, eleven short of the 60 needed to open debate, per Datawallet. Because the bill would have split oversight between the SEC and the CFTC, its failure likely pushes a market structure law into 2027.　　The regulators refused to sit still, though, as the CFTC filed its crypto market proposal with the White House budget office

09-26Industry

CFTC Sues Cash FX Over Alleged $950M Crypto-Linked Forex

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Cash FX Group and three people over an alleged $950 million foreign-exchange investment scheme that used cryptocurrency. The agency filed the complaint Sept. 25 in federal court in Florida, alleging the operation took money from more than 400,000 customer accounts and caused at least $406 million in losses.　　The CFTC said more than 6,000 U.S. accounts contributed at least $27 million. The complaint names founder Huascar Jose Lopez Castillo, TCP President Ronald Pope and promoter Justin Halladay as defendants.　　Cash FX Allegedly Misrepresented Trading　　Cash FX told participants that 70% of their contributions would go toward foreign-exchange trading, while the remaining 30% would fund an “Academy Program” offering trading education, according to the CFTC.　　Related: U.S. and Australia Raise Fresh AI Safety Concerns — Are Frontier Models Moving Faster Than Oversight？　　The agency alleges that less than 81% of the money collected was used for forex trading. It also claims some payments to earlier participants came from funds contributed by later participants.　　Cash FX also promoted an artificial-intelligence trading system that it said could generate weekly returns of about 10%, the CFTC alleges. The agency claims the system was never operational.　　Crypto Wallets Enter Investigation　　The complaint identifies cryptocurrency wallets that Cash

09-26Industry

Circle Exec Slams Germany's Proposed 50% Crypto Tax Penalty

Key TakeawaysGermany proposed a 50% tax basis on crypto sales if taxpayers lack credible proof of their purchase costs.Circles Patrick Hansen warned this hits everyday investors hard, forcing them to overpay taxes on losses.Experts warn the rule poses severe liquidity risks for transfers from self-custody to German exchanges.　　Circles Patrick Hansen Criticizes German Crypto Tax Reform　　The cryptocurrency tax reform proposed by the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) in Germany is worrying industry actors about the effects of some of its considerations for regular cryptocurrency holders.　　Patrick Hansen, Senior Director, EU Strategy & Policy at Circle, the largest MiCA-regulated stablecoin issuer, has rejected the planned 50% substitute assessment basis, which would affect taxpayers who fail to provide credible purchase information for their cryptoassets to the tax agency.　　On social media, Hansen, who had warned about the state of stablecoins under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, declared that if taxpayers cannot provide this proof, the agency will assume the cryptocurrency purchases were executed after December 31, 2026, with taxes being calculated over 50% of the sales proceeds.　　He warned that this proposal, if passed as is today, will hit the less crypto-savvy retail users hard, and they usually have less technical experience with crypto

09-26Industry

CleanSpark Senior Secured Notes Propel Bitcoin Data Center Growth

CleanSpark, Inc. has closed a massive debt deal that puts fresh financial muscle behind its Bitcoin mining and data center ambitions. The Nasdaq-listed company confirmed that its subsidiary, CSDC Finance I, LLC, finalized an offering of $2.276 billionin aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes, one of the largest capital raises tied to a Bitcoin infrastructure firm this year. The transaction, structured through this CleanSpark senior secured notes offering, gives the company a sizable new pool of capital to work with as it continues expanding its footprint in energy-driven data center development.　　Key takeawaysCleanSparks subsidiary CSDC Finance I, LLC closed a $2.276 billion offering of senior secured notes carrying a 7.875% interest rate and maturing in 2031.The notes were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and cannot be offered or sold in the United States without registration or an applicable exemption.CleanSpark says it controls more than 1.8 GW of power, land, and data center assets across the United States.The company frames its strategy around Bitcoin, energy, operational efficiency, and capital stewardship aimed at shareholder returns.CleanSpark points investors to its SEC filings, including its Form 10-K and multiple Form 10-Q reports, for detailed risk disclosures.　　CleanSpark closes $2.276 billion senior secured

09-26Industry

HBAR Price Holds Above $0.09 as Analysts Track a Larger Recovery Setup

Hederas price is holding above $0.09 after another attempt to push through the upper end of its recent range.　　Market data puts HBAR at $0.09281, up 0.99% over 24 hours. The token traded between $0.09115 and $0.09667 during the session.　　HBAR briefly moved toward $0.097 before giving back part of the advance. That places the market back near $0.093, while $0.10 remains the nearest round-number level above price.　　The tokens market capitalization stands at about $4.07 billion, with approximately $150.44 million in reported trading volume. Available supply is listed at 43.83 billion HBAR.　　HBAR Price Pulls Back After Testing $0.09667　　BraveNewCoins intraday data show HBAR spending much of the session around $0.092 before momentum increased later in the day.　　Price climbed through $0.093 and then accelerated toward the $0.09667 daily high. The move failed to hold at that level, and HBAR subsequently slipped back toward $0.093. Source: BraveNewCoin　　That leaves $0.0967 as the first immediate resistance from the current session. Above it, the $0.10 area becomes the next visible psychological level.　　On the downside, $0.09115 marks the latest daily low. A move below that price would return HBAR toward the lower end of its short-term trading structure.　　The wider market picture still shows considerable distance from Hedera‘s historical peak.

09-26Industry

Bitcoin Private Transfers With Shielded Bitcoin Protocol

A new research paper is proposing something Bitcoin has never officially had: a way to send bitcoin without broadcasting who paid whom or how much changed hands. The design, published by researchers at Alloc Init and detailed in a paper titled “Shielded Bitcoin: Private Transfers on Bitcoin L1,” aims to bring Bitcoin private transfersto the networks base layer without a soft fork, without a new blockchain, and without handing custody to any middleman.　　Key takeawaysShielded Bitcoin is a metaprotocol that hides transfer amounts and counterparties on Bitcoin Layer 1, requiring no soft fork or separate blockchain.Transfers rely on encrypted notes, nullifiers and zero-knowledge proofs to stop double-spending while keeping details private.No trusted operator or custodian ever holds users‘ funds; indexers verify transfers but cannot spend anyone’s bitcoin.Read-only keys allow selective disclosure to auditors or counterparties without granting spending power.Entry and exit points, handled through a mechanism called PIPEs, remain observable, which the researchers say could still leak some metadata.　　Introducing Shielded Bitcoin for Private Transfers on Bitcoin Layer 1　　Bitcoins public ledger is both its strength and its weakness. Every transaction is verifiable by anyone, but that same transparency means amounts, timing and wallet links sit in plain view forever. For treasuries, trading

09-26Industry

Dormant whale moves $380M Bitcoin, leaving the sale question unanswered

A Bitcoin address sent 4,499.99987779 BTC to a single destination in a transaction confirmed at 02:30:04 UTC on Sept. 25, 2026.　　Related Asset Bitcoin #1 BTC · $84,109.04 24-hour change: down 0.13% Loading price history… 24H Down 0.13% 7D Up 3.73% 30D Up 7.03%　　The output was still unspent at a 13:33 UTC check, leaving nearly 4,500 BTC visible at one address after the move.　　At Coinbases BTC/USD low and high of $84,152.88 and $84,882.18 during the 02:00-03:00 UTC hour that included confirmation, the Bitcoin output had an estimated value of about $379 million to $382 million. That price window helps size the transfer.　　The transaction spent eight outputs from the source address and created one output at the destination. Its largest input was 4,499.99986261 BTC, received on April 21, 2022. That principal output had not moved for more than four years before the Sept. 25 transaction.　　Related Company Coinbase A leading digital currency company　　The address wasnt completely inactive during that period. Its transaction history shows seven later deposits, each worth only a few hundred satoshis, between Dec. 30, 2024 and Sept. 11, 2026.　　Together they totaled 2,821 satoshis (0.00002821 BTC). The nearly 4,500 BTC principal was long held, while small later Bitcoin payments still reached

09-26Industry