Latest Crypto News & Market Updates

Bybit secures Austria EMI license for EU payments

Bybit has secured an Electronic Money Institution license in Austria, allowing its local payments subsidiary to offer regulated electronic money and payment services across the European Union.　　Bybit gains approval for regulated EU payments　　Austria‘s Financial Market Authority granted the license to Bybit Payments GmbH on Aug. 4 under the country’s E-Money Act 2010.　　The authorization allows the Vienna-based company to issue electronic money and provide payment services under Austria‘s Payment Services Act 2018. Those permissions cover incoming and outgoing payments, payment transactions, and issuing and acquiring payment instruments, according to the FMA’s licensing notice.　　Bybit said the license gives its payments subsidiary a regulated foundation for expanding financial services across Europe through Bybit.eu.　　“Europe is setting the global benchmark for how digital assets and financial services can evolve together under clear regulation,” said Georg Harer, managing director of Bybit EU GmbH and Bybit Payments GmbH.　　Harer said the EMI license and Bybits existing Markets in Crypto-Assets authorization create complementary regulatory foundations for crypto assets, payments and other financial services.　　Bybit keeps payments and crypto services separate　　Bybit Payments GmbH will operate independently from Bybit EU GmbH, the entity responsible for the exchanges crypto-asset services under MiCA.　　Customers will be able to access both service categories through Bybit.eu, but

08-05Industry

Solana Proposal Would Increase Daily SOL Burns More Than 10-Fold

In briefSolana validators are considering a proposal to increase daily SOL burns through a new fee model.A companion proposal would accelerate the networks declining inflation schedule.The proposal is close to reaching the support needed to advance to a formal vote.　　Solana validators are close to advancing a governance proposal that would sharply increase the amount of SOL burned each day while reducing the rate at which new tokens enter circulation.　　If implemented, the proposal would therefore limit the network tokens inflation rate, thereby limiting supply and, in theory, could lead to an increase in the price of Solana tokens if demand remains steady or increases.　　The proposal, SGP-0003, combines two previously introduced Solana Improvement Documents into a single governance package aimed at tightening SOLs supply. SIMD-0553 would introduce resource-based transaction fees, increasing daily SOL burns from about 650 SOL (roughly $48,000) to between 7,500 and 9,000 SOL (up to about $668,000), depending on network activity. SIMD-0550 would also double Solanas annual disinflation rate to 30%, bringing the networks 1.5% inflation floor forward from 2032 to 2029.　　A token burn permanently removes cryptocurrency from circulation by sending it to an unusable wallet address. By pairing larger burns with lower issuance, the proposal would reduce the

08-05Industry

Open USD rattled Circle's stock, but its key backers still support USDC

Recent earnings calls from Open USDs highest-profile backers, however, paint a more nuanced picture. Executives at Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard all said they intend to support multiple stablecoins instead of betting on a single winner, describing Open USD as another network to connect to rather than a replacement for USDC.　　Multi-coin strategy　　During its second-quarter earnings call last week, Coinbase reassured investors about its close relationship with Circle. Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said the exchange has already met the conditions to renew its commercial agreement with Circle and will continue growing the USDC ecosystem.　　CEO Brian Armstrong also said Coinbase remains a “multi-stablecoin platform” and wants to support whichever stablecoins customers choose to use. The exchange already supports USDC alongside Tethers USDT and PayPals PYUSD, he said, with Open USD creating “additional business opportunities and revenue opportunities.”　　Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa, struck a similar tone during his firms earnings call, describing the company as “multi-coin, multi-chain” and saying that Visas role is to help clients connect to whichever stablecoins gain adoption.　　“Our role is not to pick winners,” he said.　　Notably, Visa offered the first live example of pushing Open USD to customers. The firm last month launched its Visa Stablecoin Platform, giving banks,

08-05Industry

Alibaba Just Gave Away Its Best AI Model For Free, Almost Matching Claude and ChatGPT

In briefQwen3.8-Max runs 2.4 trillion parameters and is the first Max-class Qwen model Alibaba will release as open weights.It ships with setup instructions for Anthropics Claude Code and OpenAIs Codex—rival tools.On Alibabas own benchmark table, Fable 5 wins 15 of 31 tests. Qwen3.8-Max wins seven.　　Alibaba released Qwen3.8-Max on Monday, calling it the most capable model it has ever built. The weights land on Hugging Face and ModelScope next week—the first time the company has given away a model at Max scale.　　The specs are big: 2.4 trillion parameters total, with 95 billion switched on at any moment. Parameters are the number of dials a model is able to handle.　　This is extremely important for efficiency as it means it would not require too much resources to run. Think of it as a huge library where only the relevant shelf lights up for each question. Small businesses and labs with good enough hardware are now able to run a state-of-the-art model without spending the same as a huge datacenter.　　Alibabas release post skips the usual benchmark-chasing narrative and leans on endurance instead. The model spent 16 days building a coding tool by itself—265 commits, 127 pull requests, 151 issues, no human touching the keyboard.

08-05Industry

Senators seek SEC probe of President Trump's memecoin as crypto bill enters into a pivotal week

Quick TakeThe senators accused President Donald Trump of being involved in a “rug pull” and called on the agency to determine whether securities laws had been violated.The letter comes as the White House is mulling the latest compromise to address Trumps crypto forays as a way to move forward with potentially passing broad crypto legislation into law.　　Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal are calling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate President Donald Trumps memecoin.　　In a letter sent Monday to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, the senators pointed to reports that nearly 1 million crypto wallets have lost money since the launch of Trumps memecoin (TRUMP) in January 2025, with combined losses totaling about $3.81 billion. They accused Trump of being involved in a “rug pull” and called on the agency to determine whether securities laws had been violated.　　“Given sharp depreciation in the coin‘s value—despite the hype coming directly from the President’s own public statements—the SEC must investigate whether a fraudulent scheme may be underway, and prevent further extraction of enormous value from the hundreds of thousands of investors who put their faith in Trumps coin,” they said.　　The letter comes as the White House is mulling the latest

08-05Industry

Clarity Act sits idle over Trump ethics question as Warren asks SEC to investigate him

Spokespeople for the White House didnt immediately respond to CoinDesks questions about its current stance.　　If a new agreement isnt quickly struck that can convince as many as 10 Democrats to support the bill, Senate Majority Leader John Thunes plan to begin the Senate voting process for the Clarity Act this week could lead to a fatal defeat.　　Senator Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, is the top minority-party member of the Senate Banking Committee, though shes been outside of the negotiations over the Clarity Act that shes steadily opposed. If Democrats get the electoral bump theyre anticipating in this years midterm congressional elections, theres a narrow chance for her party to return to the majority in the Senate. If so, Warren would likely run the banking committee, which oversees the SEC and has a hand in most crypto legislation.　　“The SEC must be willing to enforce the law even when potential wrongdoers include those with powerful political connections,” she and Blumenthal wrote in the letter.

08-05Industry

Hashdex to Shut Down Bitcoin ETF After Struggling to Gain Assets

In briefHashdex will close and liquidate its Bitcoin ETF, which manages about $14.7 million.Trading ends Aug. 17, with cash distributions expected around Aug. 28.The closure follows more than two years of fierce competition in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market.　　Hashdex is shutting down its U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund after it amassed just $14.7 million in assets under management.　　According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the crypto asset managers Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (NYSE Arca: DEFI) will stop trading after the market closes on Aug. 17 before being delisted. Shareholders who still own the fund at that point are expected to receive cash distributions on or about Aug. 28 after the fund sells its remaining Bitcoin holdings.　　“Following the Last Trading Day, the Fund will liquidate its remaining Bitcoin holdings,” the filing said. “The Fund will no longer pursue its stated investment objective and will not engage in any business activities other than winding up its business and affairs, preserving the value of its assets, paying its liabilities, and distributing its remaining assets to shareholders.”　　Hashdex said it evaluated factors including assets under management, trading liquidity, operating costs, investor interest, and how the fund fit within its

08-05Industry

Polymarket targets $20 billion valuation as competition heats up in prediction market sector

SummaryPolymarket is reportedly pursuing another funding round at a $20 billion valuation.CEO Shayne Coplan says the platform aims to become an information market, not simply a betting venue.Coinbase, Robinhood and rival Kalshi are expanding the prediction markets sector.　　Blockchain-based prediction markets platform Polymarket is looking to raise fresh capital at a $20 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.　　According to the person, the company closed a funding round at a $15 billion valuation in April which included a $600 million investment from the Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.　　In June, Polymarket told CNBC that its annualized revenue had climbed well above $1 billion even after the platform saw a decline in trading volumes in April and May which were offset by record highs during the World Cup.　　Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan has long argued Polymarket should be viewed as an information platform rather than a betting site. In a March appearance, he said prediction markets let people “put your money where your mouth is” when they disagree with consensus, describing the platform as “a very useful thermometer of the world” that helps people assess the likelihood of future events. He also said

08-05Industry

ARK Invest buys $9.4M in Coinbase and Circle stock

Cathie Woods ARK Invest bought about $9.4 million worth of Coinbase and Circle shares on Aug. 3 as the U.S. Senate considered its next steps on the CLARITY Act.　　SummaryARK Invest purchased 54,776 Coinbase shares worth about $8.02 millionacross three ETFs.Two ARK funds added 23,070 Circle shares valued at roughly $1.39 million.Coinbase rebounded to $149.12, but bearish momentum and resistance near $157 remain.Senate leaders have listed the CLARITY Act as a priority, though no floor vote is scheduled.　　ARK Invest adds $8 million in Coinbase shares　　ARK Invest spread its Coinbase purchase across three exchange-traded funds, according to the firms latest trade disclosure.　　The ARK Innovation ETF bought 38,761 Coinbase shares, making it the largest buyer among the three funds. Based on Coinbases Aug. 3 closing price of $146.50, the transaction was worth approximately $5.68 million.　　ARKs Next Generation Internet ETF added another 11,133 shares valued at about $1.63 million. The ARK Fintech Innovation ETF purchased 4,882 shares worth roughly $715,000.　　You might also like:　　ARK Invest buys $40M in Tesla, SpaceX, and Nvidia during market rout　　Combined, the three ETFs acquired 54,776 Coinbase shares for approximately $8.02 million.　　Coinbase closed the Aug. 3 session 0.16% higher. The purchase expanded ARKs exposure to one of the largest publicly traded

08-04Industry

Dinari launches tokenized S&P 500 stocks for US self-custody wallets using USDC

Quick TakeThe firm says its the first to let U.S. investors trade over 700 tokenized stocks with USDC in self-custody wallets, thanks in part to a partnership with Circle.Dinaris tokenized equities, called dShares, are backed by a corresponding security held in custody, it said.The company said the market for tokenized stocks could prove limited, making it harder to “sell at a desired time or price.”　　Dinari said Tuesday it has become the first company to allow eligible U.S. investors to trade over 700 tokenized stocks using USDC through self-custody wallets.　　Through a partnership with Circle, U.S. individuals and businesses can buy and sell every stock in the S&P 500 directly onchain, the firm said.　　“For decades, investing and digital assets have existed in separate financial systems,” Dinari co-founder and CEO Gabriel Otte said in a statement. “This launch brings them together, allowing investors to move seamlessly between stablecoins and U.S. equities while preserving the protections of traditional capital markets.”　　Dinaris tokenized equities, called dShares, are each backed by a corresponding underlying security held in qualified custody, the firm said. The company warned that markets for tokenized securities may be limited, potentially making them harder to sell at a desired time or price.　　Tokenizing equities has

08-04Industry

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