Kraken Financial has gained direct access to US Federal Reserve’s payment systems via a Kansas City Fed approval, though without full banking privileges such as interest on reserves. US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has become the first company to secure a master account from the US Federal Reserve, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Kraken Financial,...Continue Reading

TRM said a post-strike spike in Nobitex wallet activity looked like routine liquidity moves, even as Chainalysis flagged higher outflows from Iranian exchanges overall. Nobitex, Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, showed no signs of a sustained, user-driven run after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, even as blockchain data indicated a brief spike in activity and higher outflows...Continue Reading

The international watchdog says P2P stablecoin transfers via self-custody wallets can bypass AML checks and urges countries to assess risks and apply proportionate safeguards. Peer-to-peer transfers made through self-custody crypto wallets are a key weak point in the stablecoin ecosystem because they can take place without a regulated intermediary, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)...Continue Reading

Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund Situational Awareness LP has scaled to $5.52 billion in equity exposure in less than a year by betting on power, data centers and Bitcoin miners. Leopold Aschenbrenner has built a US stock portfolio heavily concentrated in companies that supply the power and infrastructure behind the artificial intelligence boom. The former OpenAI...Continue Reading

BTC price upside returned during Wednesday’s Asia trading session as Bitcoin attacked a long-term trend line and psychological levels. Bitcoin (BTC) passed $71,000 on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions fueled ongoing volatility. Key points: Bitcoin price action teases a fresh breakout after failing to hold $70,000 since January. Read moreContinue Reading

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF drew $322 million in inflows Tuesday, offsetting outflows from rival funds including Fidelity and Grayscale. US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw mixed trading flows on Tuesday, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) offsetting redemptions. Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) logged $225.2 million in net inflows, according to data from SoSoValue....Continue Reading

The purchases came as geopolitical tensions tied to the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran weighed on global markets, pushing major indexes lower. Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest increased its exposure to crypto-related equities, adding shares of Coinbase and Robinhood Markets across several of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as broader markets pulled back. The company purchased...Continue Reading

Creators posting AI-generated war footage without disclosure risk losing access to X’s revenue-sharing program for three months. Social media platform X will suspend creators from its revenue-sharing program for 90 days if they post AI-generated war footage without clearly disclosing that the content was created using artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, X’s head of product, Nikita...Continue Reading

Former Los Angeles Police Department officer Eric Halem was reportedly convicted of handcuffing and threatening to kill a teenager to steal Bitcoin. A former Los Angeles Police Department officer has reportedly been convicted of kidnapping a 17-year-old and stealing $350,000 worth of crypto in a 2024 home invasion. A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury...Continue Reading

House Bill 1042 also includes provisions to protect the rights of crypto users, barring public agencies from enforcing rules that ban crypto payments, self-custody, or mining. Indiana will start allowing certain retirement and savings plans to include crypto investments and has enacted stronger legal protections for the crypto industry under a newly signed bill.  Governor...Continue Reading