Author: James Wilson

According to a fiscal year 2027 budget bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the state is moving forward with a new tax on cryptocurrency transactions that would apply to digital asset brokers operating in Illinois. Summary Illinois lawmakers approved a budget bill containing a 0.2% tax on crypto transactions and new registration rules for digital asset brokers. Unregistered brokers could face Class 3 felony charges, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and $25,000 in fines. Industry groups including the Digital Chamber and Illinois Blockchain Association have urged Governor JB Pritzker to reject the measure. Included within…

Kraken has opened access to the upcoming SpaceX IPO through tokenized shares across more than 110 markets, bringing a traditionally exclusive Wall Street process to retail investors. Summary Kraken has launched tokenized access to the upcoming SpaceX IPO through its xStocks platform. Eligible users in more than 110 markets can apply for IPO allocations and receive tokenized shares backed 1:1 by stock. SpaceX is reportedly targeting a $75 billion raise at a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion, which could make it the largest IPO on record. According to an announcement from Kraken, SpaceX will become the first company offered…

Zcash has plunged nearly 50% from its recent high after disclosure of a critical network vulnerability triggered panic selling, forced liquidations, and the exit of one of the privacy coin’s most prominent supporters. Summary Zcash plunged nearly 50% after disclosure of a critical Orchard pool vulnerability and Arthur Hayes’ exit from the asset. Lookonchain data showed a whale withdrew 37,316 ZEC worth $13.1 million from Binance, suggesting some investors are buying the dip. Technical indicators remain bearish despite the rebound, with key resistance levels sitting at $420, $471, and $523. According to crypto.news market data, Zcash (ZEC) crashed to an…

SpaceX has secured a major compute agreement withGoogle ahead of its planned Nasdaq listing, adding another large customer to its expanding AI infrastructure business. Summary SpaceX has secured a $920 million monthly compute deal with Google ahead of its planned Nasdaq IPO. Google will access about 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs and related equipment from October 2026 through June 2029. Google said the agreement will help meet stronger-than-expected demand for Gemini Enterprise and other AI products. A regulatory filing by SpaceX said Google will pay the company $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029 for access to about 110,000…

Gold has lost part of its old safe-haven image as its price action now moves closely with risk assets such as Bitcoin and the S&P 500, according to economist Robin Brooks. Summary Robin Brooks said gold has lost part of its safe-haven role as its equity correlation rises. Brooks said gold now trades more like Bitcoin and the S&P 500 during market stress. He linked gold’s changed behavior to retail inflows during the late 2025 debasement trade. Peter Schiff warned Bitcoin could face panic selling if it breaks its latest low. According to Brooks, gold no longer behaves like the…

Securitize has moved closer to entering public markets after securing regulatory clearance for its planned SPAC merger. Summary Securitize has received SEC approval for its SPAC merger filing with Cantor Equity Partners II. The deal now moves to a shareholder vote scheduled for June 29. If approved, Securitize is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker SECZ. The company provides tokenization infrastructure and services to over 650 funds globally. Securitize oversees more than $4 billion in tokenized assets across its platform. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency has declared effective the S-4…

Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the 17th Chair of the Federal Reserve on May 22, 2026, after the Senate confirmed him 54-45, the closest vote in the central bank’s modern history. He is, by a wide margin, the most crypto-literate person ever to hold the role. Summary Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has taken office as the most crypto-familiar leader in the central bank’s history, with past ties to Bitcoin and stablecoin-related ventures. Bitcoin fell after Warsh’s appointment as markets focused on his support for tighter monetary policy and expectations that interest rates could remain elevated through 2026. Analysts…

Grayscale Investments has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Canton Coin exchange-traded fund, extending its recent push into crypto investment products just days after its Hyperliquid staking ETF began trading. Summary Grayscale has filed with the SEC to launch a spot Canton Coin ETF holding CC directly. Canton Coin fell 2.8% as Bitcoin’s slide toward $60,000 triggered a broader crypto market selloff. The filing follows Grayscale’s Hyperliquid ETF debut and ongoing efforts to expand its crypto ETF lineup. According to a registration statement submitted to the SEC, the proposed Grayscale Canton ETF would hold…

Here is the puzzle. On May 29, 2026, a security researcher hired by Zcash developers found a critical bug in the network’s Orchard privacy pool, a flaw that could have let an attacker mint unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC. The development team moved fast: they disclosed it, coordinated an emergency fix, disabled the vulnerable component within days, and re-enabled it with a patched circuit through a hard fork by June 1. No funds were stolen. No inflation was detected. By almost any standard of incident response, this was a model of how to handle a critical vulnerability. And the market punished…

They were born from the same code and the same founder, and now they are competing for a slice of what could become the largest market in finance.  Summary XRP and Stellar share the same origin but now compete through very different institutional strategies. XRP leads in payments, ODL volume, regulatory clarity, and ETF access. Stellar owns the bigger tokenization headline after DTCC chose it for tokenized securities infrastructure. Both tokens still face the same value-capture problem: network adoption does not automatically create token demand. XRP and Stellar both trace back to Jed McCaleb, who co-founded Ripple and then left…