Author: James Wilson
Bitcoin slips to $72.3k as the Strait of Hormuz conflict spikes oil, U.S. inflation runs hot, and traders slash Fed cut bets, pressuring crypto and stocks. Summary Strait of Hormuz closure sends oil above $100, adding fresh inflation pressure before it even hits official data. Hot U.S. PPI print forces traders to reprice 2026 Fed cuts, pushing equity futures and Bitcoin lower in a correlated risk-off move. Elevated energy prices, sticky core inflation and an entrenched Gulf conflict leave the near-term path for crypto and other risk assets highly uncertain. Cryptocurrency markets came under sharp pressure on Wednesday as two…
Australians are increasingly using cryptocurrency for day-to-day payments, even as banking restrictions continue to hamper access to the ecosystem. Summary Crypto payments in Australia doubled to 12% in 2026 as more users turn to digital assets for everyday spending, led by online shopping and service payments. Nearly 30% of investors reported bank delays or blocks when transferring funds to crypto exchanges, up from 19.3% in 2025. A recent survey by crypto exchange Independent Reserve, which polled 2,000 “everyday Australians” between Jan. 12 and Jan. 30, found that the share of users paying with crypto has doubled from 6% to 12%…
Stablecoin payments infrastructure firm TransFi has raised $19.2 million to expand its operations. Summary TransFi raised $19.2 million in a Series A round led by Turing Financial Group to expand its stablecoin-based cross-border payments infrastructure. The company plans to deploy the funds across emerging markets while strengthening regulatory licensing and scaling enterprise merchant adoption. According to a recent announcement, the company raised $14.2 million in Series A equity along with a $5 million committed liquidity facility. The funding round was led by Turing Financial Group. TransFi will use the capital to fund expansion across South-East Asia, South Asia, the Middle…
Bitcoin price fell back under the $74,000 support level after three straight days of gains as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate cut decision scheduled for later today. Summary Bitcoin price slipped below $74,000 after a three-day rally, as traders booked profits ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision. Markets expect the Fed to hold rates at 3.50% to 3.75%, with CME FedWatch showing over 99% probability of no rate cut. Bullish technical signals persist, with a triangle breakout and ETF inflows supporting upside, while $76,000 remains key resistance. After rallying over 7% and touching nearly $76,000…
The notorious Lazarus Group may have been behind a cyberattack on crypto e-commerce store Bitrefill, the firm estimates. Summary Bitrefill linked a March 1 cyberattack to tactics associated with the Lazarus and BlueNoroff groups, after attackers compromised an employee laptop and drained funds from hot wallets. Around 18,500 purchase records were accessed, though the company said only limited customer information was exposed and there was no evidence of a full database breach. Detailing the March 1 incident in a Tuesday X post, the firm said the attackers used malware, on-chain tracing, and reused IP and email infrastructure to drain funds…
US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins has proposed a “safe harbor” framework aimed at easing regulatory pressure on crypto firms while keeping them within the federal oversight structure. Summary SEC Chair Paul Atkins proposes safe harbor exemptions to allow crypto firms to raise capital under defined regulatory pathways. Framework includes startup and fundraising exemptions, along with conditions for when tokens may fall outside securities laws. Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, Atkins said, “such a safe harbor would provide crypto innovators bespoke pathways to raise capital in the US, while providing appropriate investor protections.” Calls for…
GSR is buying its way into the underwriting layer of crypto, spending 57 million dollars to turn itself from a market maker into a full‑stack capital markets and treasury platform for token issuers. Summary GSR is acquiring Autonomous and Architech for a combined 57 million dollars, aiming to control the full lifecycle of digital asset projects from token design and launch to governance, liquidity and secondary‑market trading under one coordinated umbrella. Autonomous will keep operating independently to help teams launch and run tokenized organizations, while Architech is being folded into GSR’s advisory arm to anchor its institutional consulting, filling long‑standing…
Summary Ripple plans to apply for a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from the Central Bank of Brazil, pulling its operations under Brazil’s new crypto framework instead of operating as a grey “technology vendor.” Banks and fintechs including Banco Genial, Braza Bank and Nomad already use Ripple infrastructure for same‑day dollar transfers, real‑backed stablecoins and cross‑border fund flows, while partners like CRX and Justoken issue tokenized commodities and other RWAs via Ripple custody tools. For Ripple and XRP watchers, Brazil combines deep remittance corridors, a sophisticated banking sector and pragmatic tokenization rules, making it a key test case for whether…
A hacker group from China posing as a cybersecurity firm has allegedly stolen 7 million dollars via wallet supply‑chain attacks, targeting Trust Wallet and other clients before an internal dispute triggered a whistleblower leak. Summary Operating under Wuhan Anshun Technology, the group presented itself as a security outfit while allegedly using Electron apps, browser plugins, and remote‑control tools to exfiltrate mnemonics and drain wallets across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum and more. A disgruntled member claims the crew stole about 7 million dollars across 37 token types, then leaked internal details after a fight over profit splits and unpaid “severance,” saying…
Tether’s QVAC Fabric integrates BitNet LoRA to fine‑tune and run multi‑billion‑parameter AI models on consumer GPUs and flagship phones, pushing serious AI work to the edge. Summary QVAC Fabric brings BitNet LoRA fine‑tuning and inference to AMD and Intel GPUs, Apple’s Metal stack, and high‑end mobile GPUs, claiming 2–11x speedups over CPU baselines and up to 90% lower memory use. Tether says it has fine‑tuned models up to 3.8 billion parameters on Pixel 9, Galaxy S25, and iPhone 16, and up to 13 billion parameters on iPhone 16, pushing on‑device AI far beyond today’s typical sub‑3B demos. The release fits…