Latest Crypto News & Market Updates

Bitcoin mines first quantum-safe mainnet transaction: StarkWare

Bitcoin confirmed the first mainnet transaction using researcher Avihu Levys Quantum-Safe Bitcoin method on Aug. 26, according to StarkWare.　　The mined transaction demonstrated that QSB can operate under Bitcoins existing consensus rules. It did not require new opcodes, a soft fork or changes by Bitcoin nodes.　　Bitcoin transaction moves security toward hashes　　Standard Bitcoin transactions rely on signatures using elliptic-curve cryptography. A sufficiently powerful fault-tolerant quantum computer running Shors algorithm could theoretically calculate a private key from its exposed public key.　　QSB changes the security assumptions for a particular output. It uses hash-based commitments and a hash-to-signature puzzle rather than depending on the difficulty of solving an elliptic-curve discrete logarithm.　　StarkWare Researcher Executes First Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transaction on Mainnet　　StarkWare researcher Avihu Levys Quantum-Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme has completed its first confirmed transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet, demonstrating a way to protect transactions from… pic.twitter.com/ZiCoQdMuhD　　— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 27, 2026　　The method uses Bitcoin‘s existing ECDSA verification operations as a vehicle, but its security comes from the preimage resistance of RIPEMD-160. The published implementation estimates approximately 118-bit second-preimage resistance against an attacker using Shor’s algorithm.　　QSB does not use StarkWares STARK proving technology. However, both approaches depend heavily on hash functions. As previously reported, zk-STARKs avoid elliptic-curve

Yesterday 12:23Industry

Havenex seeks Austrian approval as Series A nears close

Havenex, an Austrian company advised by Sui co-founder Kostas “Kryptos” Chalkias, said on Aug. 26 that its Series A financing round was nearing completion as it pursued regulatory authorization.　　Chalkias announced the project through an X post. He described Havenex as infrastructure for financial institutions offering digital and traditional financial assets. The company has not disclosed the rounds size, participating investors, valuation or expected closing date.　　Havenex awaits Austrian regulatory authorization　　Havenex‘s website says the platform is undergoing authorization with Austria’s Financial Market Authority. The company also states that it cannot provide regulated services before receiving approval.　　That distinction means Havenex should not yet be described as a licensed exchange. No public authorization number or regulatory approval appears on its website. Chalkias said the company had applied for every required license and some additional permissions, but he did not identify individual license categories.　　Havenex AG lists a registered address in Vienna and Austrian company registration number FN 673083d. Its public disclosures identify Gregorios Siourounis as the management board member. Chalkias, Adeniyi Abiodun and Petros Pyloridis sit on the supervisory board.　　The company describes its intended customers as professional and institutional clients. Its approval process will determine which services it can provide, the assets it can support

Yesterday 12:07Industry

Jim Cramer Says Falling Oil Prices Make PepsiCo His Next Stock Pick

Jim Cramer named PepsiCo (PEP) his next stock idea on Wednesdays Mad Money. He built the pick on falling oil prices instead of chasing Nvidia or Salesforce.　　The CNBC host framed PepsiCo as a value play. He tied it to his broader view that oil is falling and inflation is peaking. Cramer called it a starting point, not yet a position.　　A Falling-Oil, Peaking-Inflation Worldview　　Cramers process starts with a call on rates and inflation before he names any stock. He said the economy looks stable barring a shock out of Iran or Ukraine.　　He pointed to easing crude prices as his clearest sign that inflation is topping out. Oil fell nearly 3% this week as Iran and Oman resumed talks on a Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor.　　Cramer also downplayed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, whose Jackson Hole debut speech lands Friday. He argued a hike is unlikely while the Treasury is already working to hold down long-term borrowing costs.　　PEP has not performed well in the past 6 months. Image Source: Trading ViewWhy PepsiCo Beat Nvidia and Salesforce to the Pick　　Tech was the obvious starting sector, but Cramer said Nvidia and Salesforce had already jumped on strong earnings. Buying either now, he said, would

Yesterday 11:12Industry

Michael Burry Shorts This AI Giant, Then Buys Calls as a Hedge: Why？

Michael Burry bought December Nvidia (NVDA) call options ahead of the companys record-breaking earnings, even as he added to his existing short position against the stock.He described the calls as a hedge, not a bet on gains.　　The “Big Short” investor disclosed the move on his Substack, where he also revealed fresh shorts against Oracle (ORCL), Palantir (PLTR), Nebius (NBIS), and Caterpillar (CAT). His total short stock position now exceeds 21% of his portfolio, excluding puts.　　A Hedge, Not a Reversal　　Burry set the call strikes in the mid-to-high $200s and paid a single-digit premium per contract. He said that cost is fully offset by his existing short and put exposure, which represents 3.5% to 4% of his portfolio.　　“I am not playing for gains here,” Burry said. He added he would not have made the trade without such a large bearish position already in place. He has used this hedging approach around past earnings reports, though he admitted his track record with it is mixed.　　Nvidia‘s earnings trap heading into Wednesday’s report had already unsettled traders, with the stock sliding for seven straight sessions beforehand.　　After a record-breaking earnings report, Nvidia is up modestly. Image Source: Trading ViewWhy Burry Still Sees Nvidia as Overvalued　　Burry called

Yesterday 11:09Industry

Hivemind Digital Group Raises $17 Million Led by M&G Investments

Tokenization infrastructure is drawing capital from some of the oldest names in traditional asset management. Hivemind Digital Group, the parent of Hivemind Capital, has closed a $17 million strategic funding round led by M&G Investments, the firm announced Aug. 25.　　Who is backing it　　Beyond M&G Investments, part of M&G plc with £371 billion in assets under management, the round included CPIC Investment Management (HK), Hong Kongs ZA Bank, FalconX and Sonic Boom Ventures. Other participants include board members and former senior executives at Man Group, Apollo Global Management, Coinbase, Citi, First Citizens Bank and GoldenTree Asset Management. The round marks the beginning of a relationship between Hivemind and M&G, with the two firms positioning tokenization as an increasingly central part of financial markets.　　The investor list is notable for mixing a legacy UK savings and investments group with a Hong Kong digital bank and a crypto prime brokerage, a combination that reflects the two directions tokenization infrastructure is now pulling capital from at once. The raise follows years of Hivemind positioning digital assets as a distinct institutional asset class.　　What the capital funds　　Hivemind, founded in 2021, describes itself as one of the largest investment firms focused on the intersection of traditional markets and

Yesterday 11:01Exchange

Solana takes its first step toward sub-second speed by cutting block confirmation times across the network

Solana‘s mainnet is producing blocks faster after its first staged slot-time reduction moved the network’s target from 400 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds.　　Related Asset Solana #7 SOL · $101.51 24-hour change: up 4.45% 24H Up 4.45% 7D Up 20.41% 30D Up 38.55%　　Faster slots shorten block-level feedback and confirmation thresholds measured in slots, while throughput depends on a separate set of limits.　　The Solana Foundation confirmed the mainnet change after the feature gate activated at slot 440,208,000, the first slot of epoch 1019. A feature gate is the switch validators use to coordinate a protocol change, and under the one-epoch delay required by SIMD-0525, the new timing applied when epoch 1020 began on Aug. 21.　　A slot is the window in which a designated validator can produce a block, while an epoch is a fixed period of 432,000 slots.　　Trillium, a Solana validator-telemetry provider, measured a slot-weighted mean of 365.4ms across 431,505 timed slots in post-change epoch 1021. Its view of pre-change epoch 1015 recorded a 420.7ms mean.　　The same dataset recorded 331 skipped slots in epoch 1021, or 0.077%, compared with 1,890 skips and 0.438% in epoch 1015. The lower post-change reading offers an early stability signal across those two epochs, though the comparison cannot

Yesterday 10:00Industry

SHRINCS BIP published: Quantum-secure Bitcoin comes with a catch

Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back has a reputation as a quantum computer skeptic who believes the technology is so immature the threat wont materialize for decades.　　Which makes it all the more fascinating that his company is one of the leaders in researching practical solutions to the issue. Back told Cointelegraph earlier this year “the safe thing” is to prepare for the threat well in advance.　　Blockstream has already proven its experimental post-quantum signature scheme called SHRINCS works in production on its Liquid sidechain and a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal for SHRINCS was published earlier today.　　Blockstream Research‘s Jonas Nick called it “the first concrete proposal for a post-quantum signature scheme designed specifically for Bitcoin.” But he added that SHRINCS is not intended to be Bitcoin’s ‘final’ signature scheme, and it is not optimal along every axis.　　“I do think it is a very good trade-off among the options we have now,” he said.Source: Jonas Nick　　While the timeline is hotly debated, scientists agree that sufficiently advanced quantum computers will be able to reverse engineer private keys from public keys, thereby undermining Bitcoin‘s security and enabling the theft of billions. That’s why the race is on to develop ways to upgrade Bitcoin to make it

Yesterday 09:43Industry

Bitcoin dips below $78K as stocks, gold fall on higher US PCE Inflation data

Bitcoin (BTC) slipped under $78,000 following Wednesdays Wall Street open after US inflation data came in above expectations.　　Key points:Bitcoin sees further downside after US PCE inflation data came in 0.1% higher than expected in July.Markets await Nvidia Q2 earnings release as Wednesdays next potential volatility catalyst.BTC price analysis warns over 25% weekly gains forming a bear market relief rally.　　Higher-than-expected PCE data pressures Bitcoin　　Data from TradingView tracked up to 1% daily BTC price losses, with US stocks also opening lower and gold breaking below $4,600 per ounce.BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView　　The downside came after the July print of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), known as the Federal Resrves “preferred” inflation gauge, hit 3.7% year-on-year, above the anticipated 3.6%.　　“From the preceding month, the PCE price index for July increased 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index also increased 0.2 %,” the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) official release confirmed.US PCE index data (screenshot). Source: BEA　　Markets appeared disappointed by the results following Junes unexpected drop in PCE gains, which included their first month-on-month decrease in six years.　　“US inflation continues to run at nearly double the Feds 2.0% target,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter responded in a post on X.　　The PCE

Yesterday 09:43Industry

US state banking groups plan nationwide blockchain network for 2027

Thirty-nine US state banking associations have formed the BankChain Alliance to build a nationwide, industry-owned blockchain network for banks, targeting a 2027 launch.　　On Tuesday, the alliance announced that the network intends to support smart payment tools, tokenized deposits, stablecoins and automated settlement. BankChain said it plans for the network to be interoperable with other blockchains and said it was selecting a technology partner.　　The participating associations represent thousands of financial institutions across the US. BankChain said it will invite banks nationwide to take ownership of stakes. However, the announcement did not mention individual banks that have committed to joining or disclose how the network will be governed or funded.　　BankChain joins several US bank-led networks announced or advanced since late 2025, spanning major, regional and community lenders building shared infrastructure for moving deposits and payments onchain within the regulated banking system.　　Cointelegraph reached out to BankChain for more information but did not receive a response before publication.　　US banks build shared onchain payment networks　　In June, The Clearing House announced an onchain money initiative supported by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, BNY and Wells Fargo. The proposed network would clear and settle tokenized deposits between banks and connect blockchain activity with its existing payment

Yesterday 09:43Industry

WTI slips below $81.50 amid Middle East diplomacy

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price depreciates after registering modest gains in the previous day, trading around $81.30 per barrel during the Asian hours on Thursday. Crude oil prices decline amid signs of diplomatic progress in the Middle East.　　Iran and Oman reached an agreement over each country‘s share of the Strait of Hormuz’s waters and related revenues, although Tehran cautioned that reopening the crucial waterway would require more than an agreement with Oman.　　Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said 10 million barrels of oil had passed through Hormuz on Tuesday, while reiterating claims that mines in the waterway had been cleared.　　Discover more　　Compare Exchange Rates　　Finance　　Take Economics Courses　　Oil prices have also come under pressure this week after fresh US economic sanctions on Iran proved less aggressive than markets had feared, with the White House so far sparing Irans trading partners from tougher measures.　　Oil prices pared early losses after official data showed US crude inventories rose by less than expected last week. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude inventories increased by 95,000 barrels to 428.9 million barrels for the week ended August 21. This was significantly lower than the 597,000-barrel build analysts had forecasted in a Reuters poll.　　Compounding market tightness, supply disruptions

Yesterday 09:13Industry

1 2 35

...

1000